Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First of all, I would like to offer my sincere apologies, Mr. Chartrand. Indeed, as you said, I put my name on a report that called for the federal government to give more autonomy to school boards to acquire federal buildings. I am sorry that you are not yet in a position to do that. I don't want to apologize for the Liberals, but I think they should do it too, especially since the regulations have been changed. It is a very real example of what can be done by regulation rather than by legislation.
The thing that shocks me the most is the fact that one of the signatories to the document you referred to is now the President of the Treasury Board. What hypocrisy. She was all worked up here in committee, saying that francophones across Canada should have more rights and more opportunities to develop their school system. I am also thinking of Mr. Samson. Mr. Samson is a strong advocate for the school system and was the head of a school board, but he accepts that this kind of thing is happening today within an existing law. We are debating a bill to amend that law to prevent this kind of thing from happening again. That is the last straw. Seriously, what's going on is not funny.
Mr. Beaulieu spoke at length about Quebec's issues, and he is absolutely right. We still haven't heard anything about the Quebec amendments. The bill we are considering today is constitutional in scope. Mr. Godin is right that we have been working together. I have been on this committee since 2009, except for 2011 to 2015. Every year we have produced reports, and there has almost never been any dissent among the members of the committee, from one side or the other. We have worked quite well. However, despite the work we did and the progress we made, unfortunately, we all failed. The Liberal government is coming in and changing the rules of the game, through regulation, to prevent you from having access to federal buildings. That is beyond me. It's inconceivable. Anyway, again, I apologize for that. I find it appalling.
The representatives of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, FCFA, have come here, as they have for several years. Now, almost all the witnesses are pushing us to get this bill passed quickly. The problem is that when the legislation is passed, regulations will govern how things change. That's my pet peeve, but it's written in the sky. It applies to any government, by the way. I'm not saying we're virtuous and the Liberals aren't, but Ms. President of the Treasury Board is changing the rules of the game today, when it's something she's been asking for for many years. When we form government—
Everyone agrees that there should be a champion within the government, in Treasury Board, but I am sure the Liberals are going to want to push this through without that in there and without an amendment to it. We have a responsibility.
I don't see you, Ms. Ashton, but you still haven't raised your hand to speak or to move amendments to the motion—