Mr. Speaker, Claude Cheysson, former French minister of foreign affairs and former commissioner of the European Community confirmed yesterday that the European Union could sign a free trade agreement with a sovereign Quebec. Mr. Cheysson thus recognized Quebec's special position between North America and Europe.
Free trade agreements will soon be signed between the European Union and Mexico and Tunisia. The idea of strengthening Quebec's position as a special European partner in North America is particularly attractive.
So, as Quebec enjoys special ties with its North American and Latin American partners, could it be that Canada alone has yet to comprehend the virtues of partnership? The Government of Canada has been trying unsuccessfully for some time now to sell the idea of
a free trade agreement between NAFTA and the European Union. Perhaps a sovereign Quebec will succeed where Canada has failed.