Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate Women's History Month, I want to pay tribute to the outstanding and often unnoticed contribution of one exceptional woman.
Born during World War II, she raised seven children while working alongside her husband day after day on the family farm in the Lower St. Lawrence. Despite her demanding and exhausting days, she found the strength and courage to sit as a board member for a major insurance company for over 26 years, from 1986 to 2012. I need not remind the House that, back then, the number of women sitting on the boards of major corporations could be counted on one hand.
Only recently did her children fully realize that their mother, with remarkable discretion and unwavering determination, had helped blaze new trails for women on the path to a more egalitarian society. Her name was Huguette Veilleux.
I want my mother to know that I am proud to be her son.