Mr. Speaker, I think that our hon. friend from St. Boniface has said enough for now. He will have an opportunity, during questions and comments, to expand on his thoughts concerning the bill before us.
I have a comment for him. Then, I will give him the opportunity to respond to my comment.
I listened very carefully to what our colleague from St. Boniface said. More often than not, in fact I should say usually, he takes things seriously. Having held important functions in Manitoba, he is familiar with the meaning of the words and concepts we are dealing with and he can fully grasp them and deal with them. He must know what this bill we are debating means and how far-reaching it is.
Indeed, I am surprised, to put it mildly, that he is adding so much confusion to the debate. One thing is sure-he said so himself several times in his remarks, both in French and in English-the bill before us does not change anything at all. What we have here is the status quo, no change. If this bill does not change anything, why table it in this House? I will go into this further later today.
You will probably be amazed to hear what has prompted the government to put this bill forward at this point in time. But what I want to emphasize right now is the element of confusion introduced by the hon. member for St. Boniface in his remarks by insisting and suggesting that this bill will actually change something and that a lot noise of noise can now be made around Quebec's new right of veto on any future constitutional change. That is wrong.
At the same time, he says the bill does not change anything, that what we have here is the status quo, that the good people of English Canada, outside Quebec, have nothing to worry about, because there will be no change. Supposedly, all they are doing, the only impact this bill will have will be to give the federal government a new set of rules to go by, under which it will try to determine if the changes it contemplates would garner the support of a number of provinces or certain regions of Quebec and Canada. That is what he is telling us, but basically what he is saying is that there will be no change.
I would personally like the hon. member for St. Boniface to tell us which part of his remarks we are to believe. Which part should we give credence to? The part where he tells Quebecers: "You will have your veto"? Or the one intended for people outside Quebec, which says: "Nothing will change"?
Could the hon. member clarify?