“Rouyn-Noranda is 100 years old today. I am celebrating its history, its hockey team, and its hard-working people. I invite everyone to join our celebration.”

“Mr. Speaker, perhaps this is nothing more than a tall tale that started in Rouyn, but in the early part of the last century, two Anishinabe hunters, the Mackimoot brothers, returned to their community with a glittering stone from Conia Asini. Then, a prospector from Nova Scotia, Edmund Horne, took his canoe to the township of Rouyn. Once there, potentially as a result of contact with the Anishinabe, he discovered a huge copper deposit. Shortly thereafter buildings began to spring up, including Jos Dumulon’s famous general store, the Osisko Hotel, the Horne mine and smelter, and the house that belonged to my great-grandfather Eugène Lemire. On May 5, exactly 100 years ago today, Rouyn became a town, a few weeks after Norcanda, which is what we would still be calling it today had it not been for a distracted printer. Rouyn-Noranda is the copper capital and self-proclaimed cultural capital of Quebec. It is also the capital of endless possibilities. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the incredible journey of our hockey team, the Huskies, who truly reflect who we are: often overlooked but hard-working, proud people with heart and soul who never give up. I would like to welcome everyone to join us in the celebrations.”