Madam Speaker, I will respond to some of the points raised by the hon. member, whom I wish to thank because he seems to be interested in participating in the consultations and to have a constructive point of view. I urge him to participate in the consultations. He should put pressure on the members of his party and express his fears about the currency so that we can arrive at an even wiser decision.
It would be interesting if he got involved in a great democratic process instead of boycotting it. Just a short word on the French-speaking minority in Ontario. I hope that, as an Ontario
resident, he will continue to press his provincial government to treat its francophone minority the same way we will treat the anglophone minority in Quebec.
However, he said something that was inaccurate. Although the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance are from Quebec, they do not control monetary policy, as we have seen in the past. Remember when Toronto faced inflation and an overheated economy? What happened? They implemented an inflation-fighting policy that hurt all of Canada.
Very briefly, if he believes that we will have no more influence on monetary policy, let me tell him that whether we print our own currency or use another one, selling off all our Canadian dollars on the market would cause a major decline in the value of the Canadian dollar.