Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin my speech-in the hope that the member for Bonaventure-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, who is my deskmate, will do me the honour of going along with my line of reasoning-by proposing that we try to imagine what it would be like if we had André Laurendeau, Lionel Groulx, Hubert Aquin, Robert Bourassa and Claude Ryan sitting in opposition.
I named these people, because each and every one of them, at some time or other, has been involved in the process of constitutional review, in different ways of course. I, myself, have been very interested in the process of constitutional review. It has enabled me to pursue my studies. The process of constitutional review arose from the 1960s idea that the Constitution had to be reviewed.
I would say that, for Quebec, the process of constitutional review between the 1960s and now has had two main thrusts. The first, I believe, applies to the entire Quebec family. Both the provincial Liberals and the slightly more nationalist folks acknowledge that reviewing sections 91 and 92 on the devolution of power is what counts in the constitutional review.
This is particularly true, because, as you will remember, in the early 1960s, with Jean Lesage, there was a movement in English Canada to patriate the Constitution and give it an amending formula, because the 33 Fathers of Confederation had not thought of giving it one. Jean Lesage and Jacques-Yvan Morin, and others after them, felt sections 91 and 92 had to be reviewed first, before the question of patriating the Constitution was dealt with. This then is the first thrust, which remains extremely important today, and, obviously, we can see we are a long way from it with Bill C-110.
The second and possibly the most important thrust-and that is why I referred to the man who, in a way, is like the father of the Bloc Quebecois, namely André Laurendeau, who, you may recall, was elected to the National Assembly in 1944. André Laurendeau took up Prime Minister Pearson's challenge-to whom some people do not hesitate to liken our current Prime Minister-and quit Le Devoir in the early 1960s to co-chair the Laurendeau-Dunton commission.
This royal commission is no doubt the true testament to Quebec nationalism. For the first time in a constitutional document-and I am referring here to the preliminary report tabled in 1965, commonly called the white paper-André Laurendeau and his fellow members of the commission urged English Canada to recognize the co-existence of two nations in Canada. There is a sentence in the white paper that is a important as it is short, on which I wrote my graduate thesis, and I would like to quote it today. André Laurendeau was truly a visionary when he said: "Out of disappointment will come the irreparable".
Of course, the irreparable is Quebec's sovereignty. Around 1965, sovereignty was in a latent, embryonic state in Quebec. Now, 30 years later, 30 years after André Laurendeau tabled his white paper, we are debating a bill introduced by a Liberal government who will not even recognize Quebec as a nation. That is what is so tragic in all this. No constitutional talks can take place without first recognizing that, in this country, we have two nations, which are equal in fact and in law. We must work to ensure that these two nations can start talking.
For those who belong the same school of thought as me, the best way to open a dialogue is, of course, sovereignty or a sovereignty-partnership formula. Those from another school of thought, which I respect and who won the October referendum, think that something can be worked out within the federal system. There is something that I cannot figure out about federal strategists. We cannot begrudge the current Minister of Justice. He is a rather nice man, a distinguished mind, a rising star in the Liberal camp. We cannot hold a grudge against him for not fully grasping the finer nuances of the constitutional debate.
How can the Prime Minister, who has been a member of this House since 1967-long before you, Mr. Speaker, became a member, if I am not mistaken-who has been a key player and a key witness in this constitutional review process, think that some Quebecers will be satisfied with an administrative bill that will not,
of course, be entrenched in the Constitution, and that only offers a possible right of veto.
A veto is, of course, important. We used it when Jean Lesage was tempted to accept the Fulton-Favreau formula requiring the unanimous consent of the provinces, and when Robert Bourassa was also tempted to accept the 1971 Victoria Charter, which is different from what we have before us today and which is sometimes compared with what is being offered today. As you may recall, Victoria would have given back to Quebec all of its powers over language, as the Pepin-Robarts Commission did a little later.
How can anyone on the side of the government majority think that any Quebecer-whether on the Daniel Johnson team, on the Jacques Parizeau team, or with any lobby in Quebec-will say yes to a proposal like this one?
The government has put itself in a very awkward and unenlightened position, in my opinion, by forcing the loyal opposition, one of the best oppositions this government has ever known, to say no. I know that the hon. member for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell will understand that the minimum requirements for reviewing the Constitution cannot be any less than what was proposed in the Meech Lake accord.
As you know, the Meech Lake accord contained five minimum requirements. Personally, I would never have voted for the Meech Lake accord, because even though it was a bare minimum, it did not provide the essential, namely Quebec's recognition as a nation and, more importantly, it did not provide any additional power to Quebec, while also being tragically silent on the language issue.
But let us presume that everyone is acting in good faith and is trying to engage in a dialogue. How can the Prime Minister and his team possibly think that Bill C-110 is adequate, considering that the five conditions included in Meech were an absolute minimum?
Meech also sought to ensure that the Supreme Court played a role in a balanced Canadian federation, and therefore, to restore that balance, Quebec must be represented by judges who reflect its civil law tradition.
There was also the idea, which is probably the most important one for us but is also important for English Canada, that the federal spending power had to be clearly defined, since a number of experts agree that there is a direct link between the use of that spending power by the federal government and the current deficit.
I respectfully submit, out of respect for the past, that if those whom I named were here now, including Claude Ryan-and I do not know how he is perceived by this government-none of them, who all sought to protect Quebec's interests and future, would agree with Bill C-110. I hope the government reviews its position and comes up with something more substantial, so as to launch a true dialogue.