Mr. Speaker, I cannot answer for Mr. Paradis, but all I can say is that when I was environment minister in Quebec, I had appointed an associate deputy minister, Mr. Divay, who worked actively with the federal government to seek the kind of administrative agreement which was signed today between Alberta and the federal government.
In fact, I could quote several cases of joint work which was done as actively as possible, for example, in the case of Sainte-Marguerite, in the case of the Lachine canal, which is a current case where joint panels have been established between the federal and provincial governments. In fact, I would like to refer the hon. member for Terrebonne to a statement which was made just recently to the Montreal Gazette by the Leader of the Opposition-unfortunately, I cannot find my quote, but in any case, it is official, it is widely known and I would be very pleased to send it to the hon. member for Terrebonne-where the Leader of the Opposition is criticizing Mr. Paradis for getting angry.
He says in the Gazette : I do not know why Mr. Paradis got so excited, because that legislation is a very good piece of legislation''. So, perhaps the hon. member for Terrebonne should speak to his leader and ask him why he thought that Mr. Paradis got too angry when he intervened on Bill C-13. There were several quotes from the Leader of the Opposition. I will quote his statement to Mr. Jean-François Lisée on October 21, 1993. Mr. Jean-François Lisée asked him:What is going to happen? Are you going to oppose Jacques Parizeau if he comes to power in a few months?'', speaking about Bill C-13, the same legislation we are talking about today. This was just before the election, a few days before the election, and he answered: ``Oh no, Mr. Parizeau will also abide by the law. The P.Q. has accepted the position''.
But later, just recently, a few days ago, he said repeatedly that the bill is well-founded, that he does not see in it any federal and provincial jurisdictional quarrel and that there is a way to find a common ground if we arrive at some agreements. That is what we want to do, that is what I tried to do as environment minister
in Quebec. For me, the environment has always been much more important than jurisdictional quarrels and petty squabbles.
I believe that every one must respect each other's jurisdictions, but we must do it in a constructive way, by trying to find solutions instead of confrontational elements. That has always been my position.