Mr. Speaker, according to Robert Fairholm, an economist from a prestigious American firm, the financial markets will force Canada to quickly negotiate division of the debt and to maintain the existing economic ties between the two partners. He says that they will be seeking each other out to sign such an agreement.
Since Canada's is the worse external debt in the G-7, foreign investors will obviously want to protect their investments by forcing Canada to negotiate with Quebec. The financial markets will be there to cool down the emotions of those involved.
It is hard to believe that the Minister of Finance for Canada is incapable of grasping this and keeps saying that Canada could not negotiate a new partnership with Quebec even if it wanted to.
If the Minister of Finance forgets his duty as the manager of the Canadian debt, and if he forgets where the interests of Canadians and Quebecers lie, the financial markets and one of the worst debts in the western world will be there to remind him of that duty.