Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride and humility that I rise in the House today to deliver my maiden speech.
First and foremost, I want to thank the people of Louis-Hébert who placed their trust in my on October 19, 2015. I cannot imagine any greater honour than to represent my world, my constituents, here in Ottawa. I consider this quite a privilege and a source of tremendous pride. I will do all I can to be worthy of their trust and to make them proud of their MP.
During my campaign, I often said that what my riding needed was a young, hard-working, and positive alternative. There is not a lot that I can do for young people. In all likelihood, things are going to continue to slowly deteriorate. However, I intend to always remain hard-working, positive, and accessible.
I also want to take a moment to thank my team and the volunteers who helped get me here today. Although my political career is still in the very early stages, there is one thing I learned very quickly: in politics, trying to go it alone is suicide; we have to rely on help from others. I will not name everyone, lest I forget someone, but they know who they are, and I am eternally grateful to them.
However, there are two people I must mention by name. First is my mother, Lucie, who has always stood by me and supported me from my first election as grade 1 class president at École Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Coeur to this last election campaign. Thank you, Lucie.
I also want to thank my riding president, Jean-Marie Bélanger, whose father once sat in this House, where the political son currently sits. Thank you, Jean-Marie.
During the debate on the Speech from the Throne, many of my colleagues have quite eloquently boasted about the merits, wealth, and beauty of their ridings. I have no problem believing them. Canada is a great big beautiful country. However, Louis-Hébert is no exception. We have not only the picturesque Vieux-Cap-Rouge with the magnificent Saint Félix church on the banks of the Cap Rouge River, but also the Jacques Cartier beach and the Samuel de Champlain boardwalk with their unobstructed view of the river. We also have heritage sites with a wealth of history in Sillery, including the Maison des Jésuites and Domaine Cataraqui, to name a few.
It is also a riding with a very vibrant economy and the home of Université Laval, the first French-language university in North America and, today, a world-renowned educational institution. In December, it became the first carbon-neutral university in Quebec.
All that aside, what distinguishes my riding is its people. They are proud and intelligent and, above all, compassionate. It is for that reason that my mother chose to move with my brother and me to Sainte-Foy when I was six months old. She knew that to raise two children on her own she would need the support of an entire community. She knew that, in her particular case, as the African saying goes, it would take a village to raise a child or two and that she could count on the people in my corner of the country. The people of Louis-Hébert made me the man I am today, and I would never have considered entering politics without them by my side.
My riding is doing relatively well, but there are still some major challenges to overcome, both within its borders and in the region in general. One of the things I intend to work on in my region is obtaining investments in optics-photonics, an area of expertise and a source of pride for my region; supporting Université Laval and the Jean-Lesage International Airport in obtaining a preclearance facility; and supporting the plan for responsible development set out by the Port of Quebec.
These are some of the challenges that I intend to work on and that I hope to be able to work on with my colleagues opposite, particularly the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent, who is here, and the members for Beauport—Limoilou, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, Lévis—Lotbinière, and also, obviously, my friend and colleague, the member for Québec. I may have missed some.
However, there are still other challenges. There are families who are having trouble making ends meet. There are single mothers and fathers who dread the end of the month. Major investments need to be made in infrastructure, particularly public transit. We still need to make research and development a priority so that the economy in my region can become a true knowledge economy.
I got into politics because I, along with my team, strongly believed we needed a government that would take care of its people. The government needs to take care of veterans and first nations peoples, the young and old, and the economy and the environment, without pitting them against each other, as though they were mutually exclusive. I got into politics because I strongly believed that it was time to turn the page and write a new chapter in the history of Canada.
This government has already started writing that chapter by restoring the long form census at Statistics Canada; creating a commission of inquiry on missing or murdered indigenous women; lowering taxes for the middle class; again taking a leadership role on the environment, as we saw in Paris at COP21; unmuzzling our scientists; restoring our positive influence in the world; and moving forward with our Canada child benefit, which will bring 315,000 children out of poverty, according to the Library of Parliament.
I realize that there is still a lot of work to be done, but last December's throne speech set the stage for our country to be fair and responsible once again.
