Mr. Chairman, it is clear that I have already evoked the main reasons why the Bloc Québécois has tabled this motion.
Now, if ever the government were hesitant despite Ms. Jennings' amendment, which seems quite reasonable to me, would it be possible to at least consider getting a letter signed by the minister stating that studies have been carried out to ensure that the bill is constitutional?
I would rather see the research—and I cannot imagine that the government would have lacked the professionalism to have done the research—but I would like us to have written information regarding the constitutionality of this bill before we begin.
I have to tell you in all honesty that if by chance the government were not to take our request seriously, we would have no choice but to table motions for adjournment of the proceedings so long as we did not have any information allowing us to ensure the constitutionality of the bill.
I still have a baby face, but I have been here since 1993, and it is the first time that I have heard so many witnesses tell us that bill is unconstitutional. I have never sat on a committee where, out of a dozen witnesses, nine informed us that the probability of unconstitutionality was very high.
I want to have something, whether it is research or a letter from the minister. I have confidence in the minister. Before going to cabinet, he is supposed to have signed a memorandum—that is how they refer to it—in which he ensures that he has taken the necessary steps to ensure the conformity of the measure.
If we cannot have access to the research, we must have the letter tabled by the minister. In that way, we will be reassured as to the soundness of the work that was done. But if we do not have that, we will have no other choice than to table motions for adjournment on Tuesday morning when we begin our work.
Therefore, I invite the minister, the parliamentary secretary and Mr. Petit to take our request very seriously. We are parliamentary professionals and we love our work and the committee, but we cannot vote without having some minimum guarantees.