Do we know how many civil servants, and the member for Outremont could perhaps look into this, at the federal as well as the provincial level, met, talked on the phone, exchanged letters and piles of documents? All these costs for the taxpayer must be added to the claim of $333 million.
If we had this money, if Quebecers could realize the enormous costs of federalism, I am convinced that they would at once choose to become sovereign. They would do it because the day we are able to assume our own responsibilities, the day we are able to make our own decisions concerning our collective future, we will not have to listen to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs say to us: "Go to court; let us ask our civil servants to get together". We will be able to make our decisions, and this is what the motion tabled by the official opposition is all about.