Madam Speaker, I suppose my colleague for Nanaimo-Cowichan got carried away, to have made such comments. I usually have great respect for what he says in the House. The speech he delivered in the last ten minutes shows how our friends from the Reform Party are unable to give any serious consideration whatsoever to the legitimate demands of the government of Quebec.
I have two points to make. The member explained, during his ten minutes, that the tabling, by the Bloc Quebecois, of a motion asking the federal government to act properly and stand by agreements it made under the statutes governing our institutions, is nothing more than separatists bringing up a local problem for partisan purposes.
I am sure my colleague cannot, in all conscience, maintain such an absurdity. He knows perfectly well that what the opposition is asking this morning, what the present Quebec government is asking, is what the Quebec has been asking for ten years in one case, five years in another case and three years in the last case. These demands date from the days of the Bourassa government. As I mentioned in my speech, Mr. Bourassa cannot be accused of thinking separatist thoughts.
My second point is that I was surprised to hear such comments from a Reform member who is always asking the federal government to stop interfering, to let the provinces act in their own field. He is asking even more-he would like the powers of government to be decentralized. He would like us to have a smaller federal government.
When the Bloc Quebecois, the official opposition, rises in the House on a motion that basically has the same goal, my colleague is blinded by partisan considerations and he lowers the level of debate to a partisan debate. I think there is no room for such behaviour in this House. I hope my colleague will take advantage of the few minutes he has left to refocus his thoughts.