Mr. Speaker, “We are the offspring of modest French-Canadian families, working class or lower middle class”.
With those words, a small group of artists launched an artistic and social revolution in 1948, laying the foundations for what would become modern-day Quebec. The Refus global is perhaps one of the most fundamental texts when it comes to understanding today's Quebec. The manifesto, which was signed by Paul‑Émile Borduas and co-signed by the group of artists known as the “automatistes”, calls for an end to fear, freedom from the oppression of religion and the joyful fulfilment of our fierce desire for freedom. Under Borduas's name, we see the name of Madeleine Arbour, who has just left us at the venerable age of 101. Madeleine Arbour was an extraordinary painter, a brilliant visual and design artist, a set designer, notably for Duceppe, and a teacher, who spent her whole life helping to make Quebec a more beautiful and caring place. She was one of the last surviving signatories of the Refus global manifesto. We owe an immeasurable debt to these men and women. They are the builders of an identity, the liberators of a people and the founders of today's Quebec. The Quebec nation is grateful to this great woman.