Thank you, Madam Chair.
Quebec's position on this issue and on Bill C-20 is no secret to us. It is critically important for us that Quebec have a voice in selecting the people who serve in the Senate.
We believe that in terms of consultation, this is a bill about consultation. This is a bill about asking Quebeckers who they want representing their province in the Senate. Of course, the approach right now doesn't ask Quebeckers that. A Prime Minister essentially gets to decide who will represent Quebeckers, a Prime Minister who very well might not be from Quebec. In our view, we think that Quebeckers will be much better served if they actually have a say.
In terms of what the Province of Quebec thinks of the appropriateness of an unelected upper house, I simply go back to what the Province of Quebec did itself. The Province of Quebec had a bicameral process. It had two houses. But in 1968 the Province of Quebec said that in the modern era, after the Quiet Revolution, where one is trying to strengthen and enhance democracy, the notion of an unelected second house was simply unacceptable. Quebec made its decision in 1968 that the day of the unelected, unaccountable upper chamber having full legislative authority was long past. That's why in 1968 that province chose to abolish its upper chamber and it now has a single chamber. I think that is a clear indication of the position of Quebec on what it thinks of the notion of an unaccountable, unelected upper chamber.