Mr. Speaker, on June 24, 1975, the celebrated poet of Natashquan chose the feast day of Saint-Jean, soon to become our national holiday, to bestow upon Quebeckers a priceless treasure: a song they could all call their very own.
For 50 years now, whenever we celebrate a loved one's birthday around the dinner table or out at a restaurant with friends and family, we all raise our voices to sing Gilles Vigneault's lyrics featuring the name of the birthday boy or girl.
Nowhere else in the world are homes filled with the sound of this extraordinary song written to celebrate Quebec, a song we now use to celebrate each and every Quebecker. Vigneault's superbly poetic words speak directly to the heart:All we have left, when all's said and done
Is the time we've taken to love one another
The care we have shown, the seeds we have sown
Will bloom in us forever
In the garden to which time has flown
People, o my people, it is your turn
To receive the love you've earned
[Members sang]