Mr. Speaker, constitutional matters are always delicate ones. We know that things are written into the Constitution, into the constitution of any country, in order to ensure, in a way, that they remain unchanged. In fact, what is written into a constitution is aimed, in some cases, at protecting the rights of certain minorities, and in other cases, certain majorities.
In the case of interest to us here, especially after the Newfoundland referendum, we understand that what will be done will affect rights a certain minority believed were protected for ever.
I am not taking a stand in this debate, but I would like the hon. member who has just spoken to clarify his view of this duality between permanently maintaining rights which are perhaps a bit
outmoded, on the one hand, and this constitutional guarantee which calls for the ongoing protection of minority rights, on the other.
These two points of view are contradictory, and I would like the hon. member to explain how he resolves that contradiction.