Mr. Chairman, I am familiar with the separate school system, but in light of the situation, an even more relevant question needs to be asked and here I am thinking of my colleagues from Quebec. When we reach any type of federal-provincial agreement, terms and conditions obviously have to be respected, but we have to ask ourselves whether money should be allocated to the Ministry of Education so that it in turn can be redistributed. This poses a serious jurisdictional problem.
Just imagine for a moment that I have reached an agreement regarding English as a second language with the Government of Quebec, and I want to ensure that the federal government is administering the money it pays out as part of this agreement in proper fashion. There would be an unbelievable mess. We are talking about money, but this is not just federal money: it is also taxpayers' money.
Furthermore, certain significant jurisdictional elements must be respected. We can go right back to the British North America Act to see that education comes under provincial jurisdiction. Even if, in the interest of good government, we have the power to spend, as we do already in several sectors, we need to be very careful that we do not, as part of the agreement, meddle in matters that come under provincial jurisdiction. It is not because we have spending power that we necessarily have an accountability relationship and that the Government of Quebec or Ontario has to, for example, be accountable to the Government of Canada.
Unless this question is answered in greater detail—and I think that the analyst could provide us with this answer—I am not sure that this motion is in order. First of all I would like to look at the parameters of the agreement. As I told you, I agree that we need to invest more and protect official languages. I can understand the fact that schools are sending letters. I have received some as well. However, we do have to deal with a jurisdictional reality. This is even in the framework of the social union. If the federal government gives money to provincial governments, they are not obliged to be accountable. Indeed, the federal government cannot get involved. I would like our analyst to examine this issue.
It would be premature to vote on this matter. Indeed, just imagine that this was about the Government of Quebec and not about the Government of Ontario. We know what the reaction would be.