Second, we are being told that we are wasting the time of the House by discussing Bill C-76. What an undemocratic attitude. Have we reached the point-because we are sovereignists, elected as such by the people of Quebec, democratically, 53 of us out of 75 seats in Quebec when the governing party only got 20-where we can no longer express the reasons for our being here?
Have we reached the point, now that the government is imposing new national standards in the context of an unusual legislative framework, where we no longer have the right to say that this does not make any sense, where we can no longer speak on behalf of the provinces or the poor, where we can no longer say that, yes, we are here to promote Quebec sovereignty, because we believe this is the only possible solution to extricate ourselves from the current mess, the kind of deception we are witnessing today?
I can tell you that there is not one member here who is not proud to assume this historical role, and we are confident that in the fall the people of Quebec will prove wrong those who have not yet understood the Quebec reality.
I have a question to ask the minister. He knows Quebec and, as a rule, he is quite democratic. I do not think his speech today was really democratic, but as a rule he is. He knows very well that in Quebec there is a consensus on the issue of manpower training.
We talk about a lot of things, administrative arrangements in every possible area, but there is one thing that everybody agrees on in Quebec and it is that manpower training programs and the resources devoted to them should be in the hands of the Government of Quebec.
This would do away with a lot of arguing, would prevent the neutralization of efforts and the wasting of energies. We could have better designed programs, specifically geared to Quebec needs. Everybody in Quebec thinks like this, including the leading federalists, including people like Ghislain Dufour, president of the Conseil du patronat. There is general agreement on this in Quebec.
Being a democrat and seeking the best for Quebec, as he said, what is he waiting for to convince a reluctant Prime Minister-I know he is most reluctant-to convince his government to transfer all manpower training activities to Quebec with the necessary resources?