The Constitution  Speaker, the minister avoided answering my question on constitutional offers, but in any case I will proceed with my supplementary question for the same minister. As he pointed out, the Government of Quebec has made it clear that it will seek another referendum on sovereignty in spite of the fact that in the last referendum it never did make a detailed proposal on sovereignty and the proposed economic partnership.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  I see a contradiction here as well, a policy for parliamentary reform which needs work, and I say this with respect, not only for the sake of the Parliament of Canada but perhaps also for the sake of the Parliament of an independent Quebec, if the Bloc is able to achieve its goals. From the Bloc's comments it is clear there are a lot of problems with their current position. I see I only have a short amount of time left. I know my party has a number of people who have asked to speak to Bill C-18. We are aware from Elections Canada that the process of looking at these boundaries is going to continue until it clears both Houses of Parliament.

Borrowing Authority Act, 1994-95  However, to summarize, the targets are very soft; the action is somewhat overstated; the achievement is not at all clear. The minister has spoken of a two-part budget and of course we have no long term or even medium term financial projections in this budget. We have only an empty third year column in which we are told we will reach the target.

Members Of Parliament Retiringallowances Act  That is a saving of about $29 million a year and clearly there is no comparison whatsoever in the cost. I hope my speech has cleared up what is maybe some honest misconception regarding the plan with members opposite. We know the debate has at times been very emotional. There have been all kinds of accusations levelled.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, 1995  Obviously, we cannot recognize Quebec's power to determine the future of all the provinces, but the result of a referendum is clear. It is the expression of the will of the people. If the result is affirmative, it means that the majority really wants to separate, and if the result is negative, it means that they want to remain part of Canada.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, 1995  This is the incredible journey we have been on in the government's quest to, for reasons that are becoming less and less clear by the day, redo the electoral boundaries all over again. I think I will stop there before I confuse myself. The member for Bellechasse addressed a very interesting point in his speech.

Firearms Act  There has been a shift in public opinion. That shift has been away. The fact of the matter is that no clear consensus now exists for many of the measures in this bill. For that reason, I will be supporting a wide range of the amendments to the bill, and if those amendments are not adopted I will oppose the bill on the final vote.

Members Of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act  Mr. Speaker, to assist your ruling, it is clear the hon. member for Calgary Centre wants to speak under this rule. He has no intention of moving any amendment and so in no way does he violate the standing order referred to by the member for Kingston and the Islands.

Social Transfer  He went on to say it gives the continuing ability to ensure that leverage is exercised; in other words, blackmailing provincial governments. On March 31 the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs said that the budget makes it clear that fewer strings will be attached to the Canada social transfer and went on to say that social transfer strings will be reduced and these requirements will be set by mutual consent.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, 1995  In fact, Quebec could end up with close to 25 per cent of the seats in the House after the proposed redistribution. In addition, when the hon. member talks about post-Meech Quebec, one thing is clear to me, and that is that Quebecers want to keep their Quebecois and Canadian identity and it is only within a federal state that both will be possible.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements And Federal Post-Secondary Education And Health Contributions Act  It is a very unique formula developed only for this type of transfer and once again, there is no particularly clear rationale, at least to myself and to others I have talked to, between the particulars of the program and the objectives of the equalization program. I have tried to lay out not only our general objection to the cost but also the fair range of issues that this bill really provoked both at second reading and in committee.

The Budget  The leader of the Reform Party proposed last week a plan for a balanced budget with social programs that are clearly smaller and more decentralized than we have today. These are not popular measures and we know that. Those programs are based on clear objectives and values with dollars that are available today. As bad as the Minister of Finance will paint this, these programs are going to look very good by the time we find out what the government really plans to do with social programs.

Speech From The Throne  Let us be clear about the magnitudes involved. In the case of Alberta we are talking about $88 million against an economy of $70 billion and an infrastructure investment of at least $1 billion a year.

Supply  A lot of that is thanks to these developments that have occurred in the province of Quebec and this particular separatist debate. I should be clear that in no way excuses the lack of action on the fiscal situation at the federal level. That is just as serious for Quebecers and for other Canadians and has also impacted negatively on the Government of Quebec.

Province Of Quebec  Shall we take from that response that it is the intention of the federal government to put its own question to the people of Quebec and to the people of Canada on the clear question of separation?