Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Motion No. 18, which seeks to declare the month of March as Irish heritage month. I unfortunately do not have the pleasure of having any Irish ancestry, at least as far as I know. That does not prevent me from knowing how proud Irish descendants are of their heritage.
Take for example my uncle's partner. I lived with them while I was in school. With Joe, it was impossible to ignore St. Patrick's Day celebrations. On March 17, Irish stew was a must. It was prepared with love the evening before, and you could smell the heavenly aroma all night as it simmered. The chocolate Guinness cake, which was a little less traditional, became a mainstay over the years. In all circumstances, a good whisky or a good stout were always close at hand. If the family was even a little unlucky, I might decide to take out my tin whistle, as I had tried playing it for a few years. If the family is listening today, I want to extend my most sincere apologies.
As I was saying, I have no immediate family with real Irish ancestry, but over the years and with my uncle Joe, whom we adore and who became part of the family, it has become somewhat of a tradition to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with lots of people, including the extended family and cousins.
As the years passed, new traditions were added and honoured, like the baking soda biscuit competition. It was not about who could make the best dough. That was my uncle Joe's specialty. It was about who was best at cutting the dough in the shape of a shamrock. Needless to say, once they were baked they were pretty much all the same and a little misshapen. I won for the least objectionable biscuit on a few occasions.
As for St. Patrick's Day celebrations, and I mean the big parties that are slightly less family oriented, Quebec—and especially Montreal—really does it up right. The first St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in Montreal in 1759 by Irish soldiers from the Montreal garrison just three years before the first famous parade took place in New York City.
Montreal's not-to-be-missed St. Patrick's Day parade was first held in 1824. It is recognized as the oldest event of its kind in Canada. Year in and year out—except during COVID-19, of course—between 250,000 and 750,000 people attend each year. It is ranked among the 10 most impressive parades in the world by National Geographic, and that really says something.
Seeing as so many people in Quebec also celebrate St. Patrick's Day, the question we could ask ourselves as we discuss Motion No. 18 is why tack on a full month, since we already have a lot of festivities on March 17? If it becomes an excuse to eat a little more stew or drink a little more stout or whiskey that month, that in itself would already be a good reason, though I would say no one ever needs an excuse to enjoy a whiskey.
Creating Irish heritage month has a much broader purpose. While March 17 is more of a day of celebration and festivities, the entire month of March could be much more education-oriented. That is why we already have other designated months, such as Latin American Heritage Month, Jewish Heritage Month, Sikh Heritage Month and Black History Month.
Designated months like these are a time for festive events and celebrations, but their role is also, and perhaps more importantly, to provide opportunities for the public to learn more about the history and past of many people who contribute to today's society. In fact, last fall, this was the main criterion that emerged from the debate on establishing Orange Shirt Day. All the members stressed the importance of making sure this day is seen not just as a day off, but as a day to raise awareness and teach people about the dark and regrettably too well known chapter of our history involving residential schools.
If the purpose of the motion to create an Irish heritage month is to recognize the important contributions that Irish-Canadians have made to building Canada, and to Canadian society in general, and mark the importance of educating and reflecting upon Irish heritage and culture for future generations, then the Bloc Québécois is pleased to vote in favour of the motion, as it also allows us to recognize the undeniable role the Irish have played in Quebec society since the existence of New France.
The history of the Irish and French Canadians is sometimes more connected than we might think.
Without getting into generalities and shortcuts, many people agree that the two peoples have shared several similarities that have certainly contributed to the fact that the Irish influence colours Quebec identity. Let us consider the fact that many Irish immigrants who arrived in Quebec were Catholic and from poorer social classes, something French Canadians could often identify with. However, it should be noted that there were a lot of Protestant Irish and many of the Irish were quite successful in business.
The presence of the Irish here would also have an undeniable impact on our cuisine. Many of the Irish immigrants came from modest backgrounds, which explains the family-style contributions of their cuisine. Beyond the essential potato that many associate with Ireland, barley and oats are also key ingredients in many concoctions, including brotchen foltchep, a rustic soup prepared with leeks and oats.
The root vegetables and leafy greens that were already widely used in homes in the St. Lawrence Valley in the 17th and18th centuries were also a commonality. Onion, cabbage and turnip were found on both Irish and French Canadian tables to such an extent that, in many cases, it is still difficult to separate the respective influences of the two peoples. To whom do we give the credit for vegetable barley soup? We still do not know. Meanwhile, the boiled salt beef and cabbage that is still quite common in many regions of Quebec was directly inspired by corned beef and cabbage.
There were also many common influences when it comes to music. Let us not forget that, at birth, the name of true Quebec icon La Bolduc was Mary Travers and that she was the daughter of Lawrence Travers, who was of Irish descent. The rhythm and liveliness of her reels may have something to do with her Irish heritage.
A little closer to home, I am fortunate to have in my riding the beautiful little municipality of Sainte-Brigide-d'Iberville, which has a population of 1,300. It is most commonly known for its western festival and Quebec national holiday celebrations, but also somewhat less commonly known for its significant Irish heritage.
The second seigneur or “land lord” in what is now Sainte-Brigide was John Johnson, who immigrated to Canada and acquired the land following American independence. He wanted to populate it with people who spoke the same language as him. The first colonists who arrived, particularly from Europe, were therefore Catholic anglophones, including the Murrays from Scotland and the McGuires from Ireland. That is why, still today, the Sainte-Brigide crest depicts the Scottish thistle and three Irish trefoils to represent the municipality's two founding peoples.
Actually, the parish of Sainte-Brigide-d'Iberville owes its name to Archbishop Ignace Bourget of Montreal, who issued the decree of canonical erection for the new parish on March 23, 1846. He had decided to name the municipality after St. Brigid, the canonized Irishwoman known to have been the friend of none other than St. Patrick himself.
In closing, I heard many of my colleagues talk about their history and their past, a past that was sometimes very personal. They also talked about the great feats of noteworthy Irishmen. People say that to know where you are going, you have to know where you came from. My hope is that, through Irish heritage month, we may learn that we are little more Irish than we think.