Mr. Speaker, Quebecers are realizing that independence is not the best way to meet the real needs of the outlying regions.
During the hearings held by the regional commission on Quebec's future, the PQ vice-president, Mrs. Monique Simard, warned her party not to enshrine in a new constitution the powers of the regions. Instead, she said that it might be wiser to deal with decentralization through legislation, adding: "You cannot amend the Constitution at the drop of a hat".
Our government agrees with Quebecers that we can achieve much more through administrative agreements than with another constitutional debate; we can only hope that the Parti Quebecois will eventually discover this virtue of federalism. Let us hope that the Parizeau government will decide to co-operate with the Canadian government, because this is what the vast majority of Quebecers want.