the Acadian community. Who | know, in ditferent meetings l've had around Prince Edward lsland, works hard on behalf of

the Acadian population, and l'd like to congratulate him very much for all the hard work thatl know he does on Prince Edward Island.

lt’s a pleasure for me to stand and support this motion. | believe it's a shame with regards to the déportation, but | also believe it shows the significance and the perseverance of the Acadians. Today, as it says in the motion here, the Acadians make up — and l’m iust going to quote from here: “And whereas Acadians today comprise nearly one-third of the Island's population, forming a vibrant and dynamic presence on the economic, political, artistic and cultural scenes."

When we talk about Acadians, | just want to give a little story here, a couple of little anecdotes about a Page actually in the House, and the Page's last name is Poirier. Ibelieve his first name is Luke. | said to him one day - and this could perhaps predate some people here, or perhaps some others don't remember this show or never saw the show, but back when lwas in high school and university, the most popular show on television was a television show called 90210, and the star of that show was a gentleman by the narne of Luke Perry. l said to the Page here: Do you know you've got a pretty famous name? If you had went by the Anglicization ofthe narne, your name would have been Luke Perry? He said: Actually, when lwas born, | was born Luke Perry.

He had the Iast name Perry until he was three years old, and then they changed their name to Poirier, and it just shows how many people on Prince Edward lsland, even within the last generation, have changed their names back to their Acadian roots, because it's something that - no matter what roots you corne from, you should be proud of your roots. l believe it’s a great sign today that on Prince Edward lsland more and more people are embracing their Acadian roots.

Et je veux aussi parler quelques minutes en français parce qu’ici a‘ l’Île-du-Prince- Édouard, peut-être seulement un tiers des personnes de I’Î/e-du-Prince—Edouard, ou leurs noms de famille viennent de I’Acadie,

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mais a‘ peu près 5,000: peut être jusqu’à 10,000 personnes a‘ I ’I/e-du-Prince—Edouard parlent français aussi.

Etpuisj’ai eu la chance dans les derniers quelques mois de faire le tour de quelques écoles ici a‘ I’Î/e—du-Prince-Édouard — soit dans une école de l’ouest de l’Î/e-du- Prince-Édouard. Et puis j’ai été vraiment surpris de voir des jeunes enfants qui vont dans une école française et/eurs parents ne parlentpas un mot de français, mais leurs grands-parents parlent tr ès bien le français parce qu’on a eu une période de temps ici a l’Î/e-du-Prince-Édouard ou ce n’était pas bon, peut-être, ou pas la chose a faire de parler français si tu étais Acadien.

Mais maintenant a‘ l’ÎIe-du-Prince-Édouard, à cause des Acadiens et des gens qui parlent français, les jeunes Acadiens et les jeunes enfants de l’Î/e-du-Prince-Édouard ont l’occasion ici à l'Î/e-du-Prince—Édouard de parler français etpuis, moi, je pense que dans les générations a‘ venir, l'ÎIe-du- Prince-Édouard fera l'envie du monde parce que je pense qu’on va avoir beaucoup de notre population qui pourra parler les deux langues officiel/es du Canada.

And | also want to speak in French for a few minutes because here on Prince Edward lsland maybe only a third of the people, or their last names, come from Acadia, but about 5,000, maybe upto 10,000, people on Prince Edward lsland also speak French.

And l had the chance to tour some schools here on Prince Edward lsland — a school in western Prince Edward lsland - and lwas really surprised to see young children in a French school whose parents don't speak a word of French, but their grandparents speak entirely in French, because there was a time period here on Prince Edward lsland where it wasn’t good, maybe, or not the thing to do t0 speak French if you were Acadian.

But now on Prince Edward lsland, because ofthe Acadians and people who speak French, the young Acadians and young children of Prince Edward lsland have the opportunityto speak French, and lthink in future generations, it'll make Prince Edward lsland the envy of the world because I think a lot of our population will be able to speak both of Canada's official languages.

LA PETITE SOUVENANCE

So just to conclude in English, l believe

it’s important for us to recognize the rich heritage of the Acadians. It’ s important for us to recognize the important contributions they make here in the Province of Prince Edward lsland, and it's going to be my pleasure t0 vote in favour of this motion. Again, | want to congratulate the hon. Member for Evangeline-Miscouche because I know that he does a lot of work forthe people of the Acadian community and for aII lslanders.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Some Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Speaker: The hon. Member from Crapaud-Hazel Grove.

Ms. Bertram: Merci, Monsieur le président.

J ’aimerais aussi - c’est un plaisir aujourd’hui de soutenir cette résolution et premièrement, j’aimerais bien célébrer le député d’Évangé/ine-Miscouche pour (Indistinct) de cette résolution aujourd’hui pour les Acadiens etAcadiennes de l’ÎIe- du-Prince-Édouard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

l'd also like to - it's a pleasure to support this resolution today, and first of all, l'd like to commend the Member for Evangeline- Miscouche for (lndistinct) this resolution today for the Acadians of Prince Edward lsland.

Et cette année marque les 250 ans du Grand dérangement des Acadiens ici à l'Î/e-du-Prince-Édouard. This year marks the 250m anniversary of the deportation ofthe Acadians on Prince Edward Island. Et c’était un événement qui était grand dans l’histoire des Acadiens à l’Î/e-du- Prince-Édouard et je sais aussi, ayant été une enseignante à l’école primaire — as

a teacher teaching elementary school and teaching social studies, the story of the Acadians is very important to be told because there are many students on PEI - whether they're from the east, the west, orthe central area of PEI - that can draw their ancestryto the Acadians, and many of them kno Poirier, like Arsenault, Doiron, Gallant, and there are many more names on Prince Edward lsland, and it's important that students on PEI know the history.

2008