CAQ MNA wants Montreal riding renamed after Bill 101 architect Camille Laurin

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CAQ MNA Richard Campeau, who represents the east-end Montreal riding of Bourget, is calling for that riding to be renamed after the late Camille Laurin, the Parti Québécois cabinet minister who is considered the architect of Bill 101, Quebec’s language charter.

Laurin was MNA for the riding for many years. In a statement, Campeau said that given the latest context of Quebec’s language dossier as well as the impact Laurin and Bill 101 had on Quebec society, it seems legitimate to rename the riding in his honour.

Laurin served as MNA for Bourget from 1970 to 1973, 1976 to 1985 and from 1994 to 1998.

Campeau noted that the current name of the riding honours Monsignor Ignace Bourget, bishop of Montreal from 1840 to 1876. Bourget is commemorated at 30 other sites, many of them in Montreal, as well as his birthplace, Lévis.

Campeau’s petition seeking the name change will be available on the National Assembly’s website.

Laurin’s memory has already been honoured in Montreal with a street in the Pointe-aux-Trembles district, a government office building downtown and a library in his birthplace, Charlemagne.