That, among other things, is the purpose of the bill. Before Quebec or any other province can negotiate and sign agreements, it requires the authorization of the Government of Canada, and we have to indicate to the international community, at negotiation meetings, that those states can undertake the negotiations. Something is therefore lacking to enable the provinces to act on the international scene. That's what's required; that's what the bill requests. It naturally requires the authorization of the Government of Canada. That's not contained in the present act.
In addition, I would like to go back to an argument raised by Mr. Reid. Earlier, he told us that, to his knowledge, only one country was making this type of delegation. He mentioned Switzerland, but there are many others, in particular Belgium, Germany, Argentina and Austria. I'll cite only the example of Belgium. Among other things, I'll cite article 167 of the Belgian constitution, which states: "The community and regional governments contemplated in article 121 enter into treaties, each in areas that pertain to it, concerning matters that fall under the jurisdiction of their Parliament."
So you're entirely right, Mr. Reid, to say that Switzerland is an example, but there are many others in the world, at least among the federated states. There is the example of Switzerland, but we could also cite the examples of Belgium and Germany.