Mr. Speaker, we are celebrating Francophonie Month together.
When I say “we are celebrating”, that does not include the Prime Minister, the only one in ages who does not have a francophone speech writer. It also excludes Michael Rousseau, the CEO of Air Canada, who is unable to say more than a few words in French. On the other hand, it includes more than 380 million speakers across five continents.
In Quebec, this language shapes our culture and forms the very basis of our vision for society. We salute the resilience of the Quebec people, who, for over 260 years, have had to fight to preserve the status of French and who will only succeed in doing so by making Quebec a country. We also salute the courage of the francophone and Acadian communities who fight every day to use French in public.
Long live the French language and long live La Francophonie.