Mr. Speaker, Monday's three by-elections confirmed Canadians' continued faith in our federal system of government and in its ability to adjust to new problems in Canadian society, problems hardly dreamed of or imagined by those who established Canada's constitution.
Canadian federalism has never been an abstract and inflexible charter carved in stone in 1867. It is a dynamic process of constitutional creation. It involves balancing differing social interests in a spirit of pragmatism and cooperation. It is a new federalism, a living, highly efficient and cooperative one.