Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. Yesterday, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs discounted the possibility of an agreement with Quebec on the transfer of federal responsibility for manpower training prior to any social program reform.
We now know that Ottawa is considering a simple temporary agreement limited to the joint leasing of buildings. This kind of intransigence prompted the Premier of Quebec, Mr. Johnson, inspired no doubt by healthy fear of the eve of the election, to ask the following question: "Who is in charge in Ottawa? The political powers or the bureaucracy?"
Why does the Prime Minister refuse to conclude the agreement that Quebec has been urging its federalist ally to sign? And, following Mr. Johnson's lead, I would also like to ask him this: Who is in charge in Ottawa? The Prime Minister or his bureaucrats?