NB 1133
Oct. 13, 2004
FREDERICTON (CNB) - Intergovernmental and International Relations Minister Percy Mockler, who is also Minister responsible for the Francophonie, said he was pleased by the initiative of Quebec parliamentarians to organize a ceremony at the National Assembly on Tuesday, Oct. 19, to highlight the federal Royal Proclamation on the Deportation of the Acadians.
The members of the Association parlementaire Nouveau-Brunswick-Québec (Quebec-New Brunswick parliamentary association), established in September 2004, will meet for the first time from Oct. 17 - 20 in Québec City. On that occasion, an official ceremony will be held in the Red Room of the National Assembly to mark the Royal Proclamation of Dec. 10, 2003, which recognized the deportation and designated a Day of Commemoration.
"This is an excellent initiative on the part of the Québec National Assembly, and I want to congratulate them personally and on behalf of the members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick," Mockler said.
"Unfortunately, I had to decline the invitation from the Quebec Minister of Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs and Aboriginal Affairs, Benoît Pelletier, as I have commitments in Ottawa that day," Mockler said. "However, New Brunswick will be very well represented during the ceremony."
The New Brunswick members of the parliamentary association will attend the ceremony: Bev Harrison, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and MLAs Claude Williams, Cy Leblanc, John Betts, Eugene McGinley, and Ronald Ouellette.
The Association parlementaire Nouveau-Brunswick-Québec is designed to strengthen exchanges and friendship ties between the two institutions.
04/10/13
MEDIA CONTACT: Bruno Godin, director of communications, Intergovernmental and International Relations, 506-444-4594.
04/10/13