Mr. Speaker, I am glad to be asked this question. The member said there were several conditions. Yes, of course, there were several conditions. However, I want to point out to the Reform member that we have been working hard
for 10 years and, personally, when I was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party, I worked hard to get approval for the Meech Lake Agreement.
I can tell you that we worked for two and even three years, because it took three years, a lot of discussion and efforts, to get this agreement approved. Let me remind Reform members that we spent almost $500 million. The Canadian government spent almost $500 million to try to explain how this country could be managed. The overall process, the ads, the whole thing cost almost $500 million and took several years. In the end, the federal government and English Canada did not want any changes.
So, do not say we did not try. We did and we spent a lot of money we did not even have. We borrowed to try and get approval for this agreement and it was rejected. What else can I say, we did everything possible. Mr. Mulroney put all his heart into trying to renew Canada, but he failed. Maybe the Reform Party will succeed, I do not know, but I have lost faith. Any way, I can tell you that we tried our best, but we failed.
Do not try to convince me that I made a mistake in becoming a sovereignist member in this House. From an economic standpoint, it is a matter of life and death. I believe, and I will repeat it, that the only solution for Quebec is to become a sovereign state, to collect its own taxes, to make its own laws, to sign its own treaties and to have an open economic association with the rest of Canada, just as we have today. If Quebec continues to do business with the rest of Canada after it achieves sovereignty, there is not one Canadian that will see a difference. People from Montreal will continue to go to Toronto to do business, and people from Toronto will continue to come to Montreal just as they do now.
It will not change a thing. The only difference is that we will have only one government, we will have only one set of laws, we will collect our own taxes, we will spend according to our own priorities and we will make progress. And the rest of Canada will also benefit from that because a strong Quebec will share its wealth with the rest of Canada and help Canadians to continue to live well. We will stay good friends.
I can assure you that I will continue to ski in Whistler and I will feel very good about it. I have no problem with that. It is in that sense that we will succeed in helping the rest of Canada to survive economically so that it does not become a kind of third world country, as we already are in terms of our debt.