Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Parti Quebecois Premier made use of something said by one of the executives of the Bank of Montreal to reaffirm his confidence in the economic future of an independent Quebec. It is paradoxical, to say the least, to see the head of the Parti Quebecois using the words of a representative of the Bank of Montreal to support his separatist pretensions. In June 1994, the same man was publicly inviting Quebecers who did business with the Bank of Montreal to pull out of the institution because its chief economist had dared to say that the election of the Parti Quebecois would make the money markets extremely nervous.
This is a fine example of the separatists' double standard. If you make a statement in favour of Quebec independence one day, you are quoted publicly. Then, another day, if you say something against separation, you become the target of the PQ's big guns. So much for intellectual impartiality.