Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I had the opportunity to ask a question with regard to manpower training and I could feel the minister does not really understand the situation in Quebec. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to give more information so that people understand the basis for the consensus existing in Quebec on the issue of claiming jurisdiction over manpower training.
You know there is, in Quebec, an agency called Forum sur l'emploi. It is a forum for stakeholders from every field of endeavour, such as social sciences, economics, or culture, and they all came to the same conclusion: "Quebec forms a specific region in the economic, cultural and social terms. It is a natural unit and, if we want to implement a dynamic employment policy, if we want Quebecers to make the best possible use of their human resources, we must have control over all the development programs related to manpower training".
This is all the easier because both the Canadian Constitution and the British North America Act state that education comes under provincial jurisdiction. Therefore, the issue of manpower training as we now call it, including the reform of social security programs and continued training, should also belong to Quebec. Quebec would then have all the necessary tools for its development.
We must remember it was only in the 1942 Constitution that unemployment insurance was turned over to the federal government. Before that, provinces also had jurisdiction in that area. So the Fathers of Confederation really meant for anything related to training and manpower, or just simply training, to be a provincial responsibility, in particular because of Quebec's French identity.
That is why I am asking the government why it does not agree to that totally logical request, which has met with unanimous approval in Quebec, and allow the province to have control over the development of its human resources, which are, and which will increasingly be, the source of all development.
By making the fullest use of our potential, we will build a society better suited to adapt quickly to all aspects of competition on the global market. There is always, in the background, the special situation of Quebec, the only place in America where you find a majority of francophones, which implies different practices, in particular regarding population mobility.
As regards mobility we cannot apply the same policies, objectives and national standards to Quebec as we do to the rest of Canada. That is why I am asking the government to explain its lack of understanding of the Quebec fact and to tell us why it does not accept our request, which is made not only by the Bloc Quebecois but by all stakeholders in Quebec.