Mr. Choquette, I believe the FCFA has also made similar demands. Its members have emphasized that this could be a good way to send a message to all Canadians. Convening a meeting of the first ministers of all the provinces to discuss this topic could really emphasize the importance of the language issue, which is every bit as important as economic concerns.
I would even go as far as to say that it's more important than economic concerns, and here's why. Even an economic argument cannot be used to override existing constitutional obligations in the area of linguistic rights.
I must say that we have an opportunity right now that appeared just recently. Let me explain. The Quebec premier has publicly stated that he agrees that the linguistic minority in that province must be looked after. I have argued many cases of a constitutional nature before the Supreme Court of Canada and I can tell you that Quebec's actions are not always straightforward. For instance, rather than supporting linguistic minorities, it actually acts against the position of linguistic minorities. Why? Because it's afraid of setting a precedent that could by used by anglophones in Quebec.
I did once represent the English-speaking minority in Quebec on a case before the Supreme Court of Canada. In reality, that political concern doesn't really have any bearing here. As we saw from the episode of Tout le monde en parle, there is a strong desire to support the Franco-Ontarian minority. Maybe it's because there is a certain awareness on the part of Quebeckers, who may be thinking that we're all members of the same extended family, and we need their help right now.
One of the ways Quebeckers can help us is by taking part in the debate and saying they think it's important to be concerned about what happens to Franco-Ontarians. Instead of focusing their efforts on making sure the anglophone linguistic minority doesn't cause them too many problems, they should be joining with us to ensure that all francophone minorities, in all provinces, are respected.
We have an opportunity to take action here. This might be the best time to bring all the premiers together to discuss the matter. It should be done sooner rather than later, so that everyone is on the right track. We can't wait for more unfortunate decisions to be made. Two unfortunate decisions have been made in Ontario, and we need to make sure that doesn't happen in any other provinces.