Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
Yes, I am very much aware. I understand that, in the past, the situation was less than perfect, and I believe that we have tried to improve the situation, and have improved it. I believe that this bill is exactly what it claims to be, that is to say an administrative bill, one which confers no additional powers upon the minister or the department or the provinces or anyone else.
I believe that there is a guarantee, not only in the bill but also by the minister himself, that he has no intention whatsoever of encroaching upon provincial responsibilities or trying to interfere in their areas of jurisdiction. I believe that this is a firm commitment, an honest one, an honourable one, and one that will be respected.
I understand that there may be differences of opinion, but I would like to start by inviting my colleagues to make concrete proposals so that we may work together better to improve the condition of all Canadians, including of course the men and women of Quebec, where employment is concerned.
We all know what human beings want above all is a job, a challenging job, one that pays enough to keep them and their families. The challenge is to make concrete suggestions; we could sit down together. Let us make sure that the government of Quebec comes to meet with us, or we could go to meet with them if that suited better, if it were easier, in order to reach agreement.
Secondly, apart from what I have just proposed, if there are questions-and obviously there are-which are bothering us, raising doubts about certain possibilities, if you like, if we might just put them aside and discuss them in the appropriate forum. For example, there are issues on federal-provincial affairs, links, reports, agreements between the two levels of government. There are mechanisms for discussion. I would invite my colleague to encourage his colleagues to do everything possible to allow us to
work for the people, whether they live in Quebec or elsewhere. That is my wish.