Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise in the House today to speak in support of the recognition of the month of March as Irish heritage month in this country.
I first want to thank the member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore for bringing this important motion forward. The two of us have worked together for a long time on the Canada-Ireland Interparliamentary Group and I know this is an area that is very important to him, as well as many Canadians from coast to coast.
Irish Canadians, as we all know, have much to be proud of. In truth, they did a lot of the heavy lifting in putting this massive country together and building it into the great country it is today. Some Irish Canadians can trace their roots all the way back to the 17th century, when many Irish arrived in what was then New France. Some French Canadian and Acadian surnames are evolutions of Irish names that evolved due to the French influence.
Irish immigration to this country continued throughout the 18th century as well, as New France and Newfoundland continued to grow as colonies. However, the main wave of Irish immigration came in the 19th century, which saw hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants arrive on the shores of what is now Canada, many of them settling in the Maritimes and spreading throughout inland Canada. These immigrants would be crucial to the growth of major port cities like Halifax and Saint John. They were a large part of the labour force in this country that constructed the Rideau and Lachine canals.
Today, the Canadian Irish community is one of the largest ethnic groups in Canada and has spread itself across the country. According to the most recent census, Irish is the fourth largest ethnic group in the country, with more than 4.5 million Canadians claiming to be of either full or partial Irish lineage. No matter what province we find ourselves in, we can be sure there is a thriving and proud Irish community there.
As the member of Parliament for Saskatoon—Grasswood, I know it is always a treat to visit the Irish pavilion at the annual Saskatoon Folkfest, which is put on every year by the Saskatoon Association for the Promotion of Irish Culture. The pride the Irish presenters have in their heritage and the celebrations of that heritage are certainly infectious and truly represent the vibrant Irish Canadian community in our city of Saskatoon.
In truth, there are few communities who were as important to building Canada into the country we have today as the Irish. We need look no further than our history in this chamber to set the rule, such as Thomas D'Arcy McGee, one of the most well-known fathers of Confederation and a very close adviser and friend to our first prime minister of this country, Sir John A. Macdonald. Others include Sir John Thompson, our fourth prime minister; Louis St. Laurent, our 12th; Brian Mulroney, our 18th; and Paul Martin, our 21st; not to mention dozens of cabinet ministers and members of Parliament like the great Jim Flaherty. Jim always wore a green tie and I wear one today in his honour. Of course, I cannot forget our current Leader of the Opposition, who will be the next of Irish descent in the House of Commons to be our prime minister.
I would be remiss if I did not take time to specifically mention Nellie McClung, one of the Famous Five who launched the person's case and is perhaps the woman of Irish descent who has had the greatest impact on Canada and women's rights in this country. McClung and the others of the Famous Five, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Emily Murphy, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby, fought for women's rights all the way to the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the highest court for Canada at the time, and succeeded.
Indeed, without these important Canadian leaders, we would not be the country we are today, but political leadership is not by any means the only way to make important contributions to Canada. Our country has a rich history of Canadians of Irish lineage leaving a lasting and profound impact on this country.
We can look at groups that have been mentioned, like the Great Big Sea, the band famous for songs like When I'm Up and Ordinary Day, and the Juno-award winning Irish Descendants. They are prime examples of great Canadian artists of Irish descent.
I left out a very notable exception there, because it is a perfect segue into the next topic that I would like to talk about: Stompin' Tom Connors, the legendary Canadian singer-songwriter of Irish descent, famous for his songs about our beautiful country, like Sudbury Saturday and Bud the Spud.
His incredible work and contributions to Canadian culture earned him the Order of Canada in 1996, the Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award from the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards, honorary doctorates from a number of Canadian universities, multiple Juno Awards and many other honours. He was truly one of the greatest artists in our history.
That brings me to my next point. Amongst all of his achievements and his incredible work, Stompin' Tom may very well be best known for a song that is played worldwide. For my money, as a former sportscaster, this, without question, was the greatest sports anthem in the world: The Hockey Song. The Good Old Hockey Game, as Stompin' Tom would call it, is full of Canadian and heritage descent. I have it right here. It is our last day sitting in the House of Commons, and I am going to save this—