Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you and your team for your sustained efforts, Mr. Théberge. You've raised some very interesting points that made me react.
He said no one should cite the economy or the deficit as an excuse to violate the fundamental rights of francophones outside Quebec or English-speaking Quebecers. I'm so convinced of that that I've even drawn an analogy: when there's less water in the lake, and by that I mean less money, the animals around the lake look at each other differently. Consequently, the minorities are given less. I completely agree with you that this is a leadership issue and that this is where the problem lies. I find it very hard to accept that a government can view a deficit as an adequate excuse to violate rights.
We saw this in Nova Scotia during the time of our New Democratic government. The NDP has been in power once in the history of Nova Scotia, and I hope it was the last time. Just imagine: during its mandate, the party that supposedly protects minorities abolished certain ridings with black or Acadian majorities. The former ridings were ultimately reinstated pursuant to a court decision.