Debates of Nov. 1st, 1995

Tribute To Quebec Premier

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I again hear the Minister of Transport starting up his insulting comments.

A pillar of the sovereignist movement, Jacques Parizeau also rebuilt the Parti Quebecois in the aftermath of a particularly difficult period. It is in large part due to him that Quebecers will soon have their own country.

A man of integrity and profound convictions, he has never doubted the necessity of sovereignty for the people of Quebec.

Mr. Parizeau, the people of Quebec will never forget your efforts to finally bring Quebec recognition within the family of nations. You will now be acknowledged, along with René Lévesque, as one of the great builders of the country of Quebec.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[The Speaker]

The Right Hon. Prime Minister wishes to speak.

Tribute To The Premier Of Quebec

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Saint-Maurice, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a short statement I would like to make, with leave of the House.

Obviously, in public life we cannot always agree with everyone, and sometimes this leads to difficult situations.

I know Mr. Parizeau well. I have known him since 1968 and I have had the opportunity to work with him. Despite our significant political differences, I can say he is a man who has given his life to politics. He is a man of considerable talent, who has worked with governments for many years. He was even an adviser to the Government of Canada, to the Department of Finance, when I was parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Finance.

One day, our paths separated, and he became a sovereignist, a separatist. I respect his opinion and always have, even if I do not completely agree. Now he has decided to retire. I would have hoped it could happen under circumstances less controversial for him and for everyone, but I have no control over circumstances.

I would like to point out that, here, in Canada, we have one of the finest democracies in the world. It is an example. Few countries in the world would tolerate the raising of passions as deep as those involved in wanting to break up a country and use part of it to make a new one.

It is an example for the world that this sort of passionate discourse cannot be permitted without a surprising amount of control. I have travelled with Mr. Parizeau. We have been travelling companions. He could be a most pleasant companion, at times, when we were not talking politics. Obviously, when we started talking politics, breakfasts or dinners were rather tumultuous, but interesting, I must say.

Today, he has decided to retire after serving the public for many years, and we must thank him for serving the public as he did. Unfortunately for me, he did not remain an ardent federalist. He decided not to remain one, and I did. I am very persistent. He became persistent after that and he remained the most persistent sovereignist or separatist of the group. He did not hide his opinion.

At one point, he even left Mr. Lévesque, because he did not agree with the "beau risque". He is retiring, and the people of Quebec should thank him for his contribution to the public debate, even if we did not agree. That is what is so great about Canada: we can disagree and yet serve the public to the best of our knowledge and abilities.

[The Speaker]

We started with Statements by Members and the hon. Leader of the Opposition made his statement. I recognized the Prime Minister who evidently was joining in and I believe we have turned it into tributes.

I will recognize-I believe that is why he is on his feet-the hon. House leader and then I propose to begin question period.

[Ray Speaker, Reform, Lethbridge]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the intervention of the Prime Minister. Would the Speaker ensure that we have the full amount of allotted time for question period?

[The Speaker]

The answer is yes.

The Referendum

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I think both Mr. Parizeau and we in the Bloc are grateful to the Prime Minister for his fine gesture in speaking these words. I thank him for it. With the permission of the House, I would like to table the preliminary report of the count of Monday's voting.

[The Speaker]

It is a bit different today. Perhaps the hon. Leader of the Opposition could table it at the end of question period. We return to question period again.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we, the people of Quebec, whatever our political stripe, are delighted at how democratically the recent referendum debate was carried out. In fact, the only hitch in the democratic proceedings we might criticize came about because of Ottawa and very high up in Ottawa, namely the number one guardian of Canadian democracy, the Prime Minister of Canada. We will recall that he said in this House he reserved the right not to honour a narrow yes majority in favour of sovereignty.

My question is for the Prime Minister. Knowing now that the no majority is only six tenths of 1 per cent above 50 and in view of the fact that the sovereignists have set an example by bowing to a very narrow majority, does he not think he should withdraw his remarks and apologize in the name of Canadian democracy?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Absolutely not, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely not. I should say first that, indeed, 49.4 per cent of Quebecers voted yes. However, probably between 30 and 40 per cent of them voted yes thinking they were going to stay in Canada. They did not all vote for Quebec's separation.

I was in the car a few minutes ago, and people were calling an open line show saying they did not know, they did not suspect the mandate was to separate.

The word "separation" was never again heard from the lips of the Leader of the Opposition after he was obliged to use it in front of the Americans to make himself understood.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister of Canada, as part of his duties in the

House of Commons, is permitted to distinguish between votes, if I understand properly, when the votes were for the yes side.

What would the Prime Minister of Canada say if, as Leader of the Opposition, I did not recognize the very slim no majority? What would he say? He would be right in accusing me of not being democratic.

Nearly 2.3 million Quebecers opted for a sovereign Quebec on Monday. For a Prime Minister who promised us we were going to take a beating, it is quite a comeuppance.

The Quebec reality continues to escape him, however, because he now thinks he can meet Quebec's expectations with an unimportant resolution in the House paying lip service to Quebec's distinctive nature.

Can the Prime Minister be so ignorant of the reality in Quebec that he imagines he can halt the irresistible sovereignist advance with such a horrible mockery?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, first, Quebecers have spoken. I hope the Leader of the Opposition will accept the verdict of Quebecers, who have decided to remain in Canada. On the night of the verdict, he was saying he was going to start again right away, whereas the people had spoken. He is the one who lost and should have accepted the verdict.

As for me, my job in this country is to ensure observance of the Canadian constitution, only I did not have to use all the powers vested in the government, because the people of Quebec spoke and chose to remain in Canada. I hope the Leader of the Opposition will understand that Quebecers want all elected officials, both here and in Quebec City, to serve the people and look after economic growth and job creation; they are sick and tired of all the talk about constitutional problems. They want the governments to get back to the real problems: the dignity of workers in Quebec.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, for people who are fed up, a 94 per cent turnout in a popular vote is not bad.

After Monday's vote, the Canadian federal system is enjoying a respite, the result of a few tenths of points of popular vote. In this context, does the Prime Minister not see that the only realistic solution for Quebec and Canada is a new partnership negotiated between equals following the next Quebec referendum, which will follow inexorably?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the people have spoken. Democracy has spoken. Obviously, the Leader of the Opposition does not agree with democracy. DidMr. Johnson, who lost the election last year with four tenths of 1 per cent-

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Saint-Maurice, QC]

Was Mr. Parizeau's government illegitimate because they won by only four tenths of 1 per cent?

The people have spoken and they have decided to remain in Canada, despite all the unbelievable propaganda, in which people were told that, if they voted no, there would be no more unemployment insurance and their pensions would be cut, without it ever being proven. These were absolutely gratuitous statements. Despite this, despite all these lies, they failed to win.

Distinct Society

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it did not take more than 24 hours after a No win based on a fraction of a percentage for the Prime Minister to consider tabling a resolution in the House of Commons recognizing the fact that Quebec is a distinct society. And all this while hastening to add that such recognition confers no special powers or status on Quebec. He seems to agree with the Premier of Ontario who said that now was not the time to react hastily and promise things one might not be able to deliver.

My question is directed to the Prime Minister. Does he agree with the Premier of Ontario that any changes that would be significant in the eyes of Quebec would not be acceptable to the rest of Canada?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, to me, the recognition of Quebec as a distinct society is important. It is something that the Parliament of Canada has already accepted, it was voted on in a referendum, and we voted in favour of a distinct society-

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

That is not true.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Saint-Maurice, QC]

While the Leader of the Opposition-

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Everyone knows it is not true.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Saint-Maurice, QC]

-and the House leader of the opposition voted against Charlottetown. Then they went around Quebec blaming us for not delivering on Charlottetown when they all voted in favour of recognition of Quebec as a distinct society.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has conveniently overlooked the fact that he killed the Meech Lake Accord-

[Some hon. members]

He did. He did.