Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs said that Canadians in the rest of Canada had paid for 80 per cent of federal assets in Quebec. The minister finds it exceedingly complicated for Quebec to retain ownership of federal assets located on Quebec territory after sovereignty.
Naturally the minister neglected to add that, in fact, Quebec has paid for 23 per cent of federal assets located elsewhere in Canada or abroad. And custom and international law stipulate that federal assets located within Quebec will become the property of Quebecers ipso facto . Canada loses nothing in the transaction, as only 17.5 per cent of all federal assets are located in Quebec.
Obviously, Quebec will want to deduct this shortfall from the portion of the federal debt it will assume the day after a yes vote. Once again, the minister has attempted to bend the truth about what would happen in a sovereign Quebec the day after October 30.