The National Assembly voted almost unanimously against unilateral patriation of the Constitution.
In 1984, the sovereigntists decided to take the "beau risque" and give the federalists another chance, like the hon. member opposite. Meech failed. Bélanger-Campeau resulted in a consensus unheard of in Quebec. The federalists responded with two years of nonsense which led us to the moment of truth. I will explain
In 1992, Quebecers voted massively against the Charlottetown nonsense. That was the moment of truth for Quebec and Quebecers. And again on October 25 last year, they gave us a clear mandate. Why did they not vote for you? Why did they not vote massively for the Liberals? Quebecers who vote want to
choose their option for the future, and I am sure they will chose the option of sovereignty.
I have one more important item. The Leader of the Official Opposition extended his hand in friendship when he arrived here. We intend to work very hard to improve public finances and the state of the economy in Quebec and Canada. Do you know why? Because when Quebecers choose the sovereignty option, we do not want to be stuck with an even bigger share of Canada's debt than would be the case today, and second, we certainly don't want Canadians, our friends and trading partners, to suffer as the consequences of an economic situation created by this government and its poor economic decisions.