Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm going to share my speaking time with my colleague Mario Laframboise.
First of all, I'd like to go back to the summary of the distribution of executive and legislative powers that you made in response to Mr. Reid. It's now so true that, in the context of the negotiations for the Canada-Europe free trade agreement, the Europeans themselves have asked that the provinces be seated at the bargaining table because they know very well that jurisdictions respecting government contracts, for example, belong in large part to the provinces. All matters pertaining to education are currently the subject of considerable discussion. Even this example shows the extent to which the provincial jurisdictions are now re-emerging onto the international scene.
Further to Mr. Reid's remarks, I'm going to ask the question differently. From the moment Canada's Constitution is silent on certain matters—you very clearly demonstrated that point—and very clearly establishes the distribution of powers, why doesn't Quebec simply take the initiative of developing its own international relations? It's already doing so, but they could lead to the signing of treaties with sovereign countries.