Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to this complex and difficult issue.
It is an issue that is complex and difficult for Newfoundlanders and for Canadians, but less so for Quebecers. That having been said, I can understand that members across the way, who are particularly concerned by the effect that a vote in the House of Commons could have on the recognition of the rights of minorities, of native peoples, in the Constitution, may be thrown into disarray by the House's approval of the amendment proposed by the Province of Newfoundland.
This needs to be acknowledged, and the Senate has given us an opportunity to take another look at this issue. I would note in passing that it is unacceptable for an unelected Chamber to be permitted to do what it has done, and the Bloc has made this point on a number of occasions.
But, back to the main item. The opportunity we have been given to take another look at this issue allows us to bring out a number of facts: the fact that the Newfoundland referendum was not won by a large majority, quite the contrary, allowing us to say that the groups affected-and I am not calling them minorities-in this case, the various denominations, gave their approval. It is clearly a decision by Newfoundlanders regarding the organization of their schools, irrespective of the original provisions of the Constitution.
Some people may have language concerns, but we know that for most the primary issue is denomination. You know that this is an extremely sensitive issue in Quebec, and that the Constitution of 1867 provided guarantees, which at the time were supposed to be guarantees for anglophones in Quebec and francophones in Ontario, and later in other provinces. But back then, as denomination and language were largely, not exclusively, but largely linked, the guarantees given denominations were largely language guarantees.
Today, urged on by a large percentage of the public, by extremely urgent constraints, the Government of Quebec wants to reorga-
nize the entire school system on the basis of language, rather than denomination. But it is prevented from doing so by section 93.
Obviously, Quebecers who would like to change their school system and thus change the guarantees given in the Constitution to religious denominations are extremely interested in this vote, this referendum that was held in Newfoundland and in the amendment requested by the Government of Newfoundland.
It is important to realize that the rights affected here are not those of an internationally recognized minority. These are guarantees given to religious denominations for which the province is, in the end, responsible.
When this measure became before the House, the Bloc Quebecois voted in favour of the motion because it recognizes the right of the people of Newfoundland to organize their schools as they see fit, and also the fact that the people of Newfoundland would give religious denominations the guarantees they felt were required by law.
In Quebec-and I say this quite frankly-using section 93 is more complicated because to do so we would have to accept the Constitution of 1982 which was imposed on us, and when I say us, I mean the people of Quebec and the National Assembly. This Constitution of 1982 is considered internationally as a denial of the fundamental right of the people of Quebec.
Although the Constitution of 1982 that was imposed on us by force does not apply with any legitimacy, we nevertheless refer to the possibility of using section 93 as a way to deal with this urgent matter of reorganizing our school system.
I would like to explain how urgent the problem is. You probably know that about 90 per cent of immigrants who settle in Montreal and become Canadian citizens in Quebec still remain largely in Montreal and the surrounding area. This means that the proportion of francophones has gone down steadily and that, since the guarantees provided under the Constitution prohibited us from organizing school boards along language lines, we have this absurd situation where the children of immigrants are required under Bill 101-which became Bill 86-to study in French. That is the only thing left of the bill.
However, many children do so in Protestant and therefore anglophone school boards, although they have French classes. However, in these French classes-and I have heard many comments from teachers and parents who send their children there-it is clear they are not part of a francophone whole but of an English-language organization that provides classroom teaching in French.
It is public knowledge that when these young people graduate from high school and are no longer under the obligation to study in
French, most of them end up in one of the anglophone CEGEPs. So this is a problem for all of Quebec, but it is mainly concentrated in the Montreal region.
The Montreal region has to live with the problem of the permanency of these guarantees which actually no longer guarantee anything at all as far as the Protestant religion is concerned. Since there are so many denominations, there is a tendency to teach religion outside of school, while the schools will teach ethics, but they will still have a so-called religious, anglophone organization.
On the French side, there are parents in Montreal who want their children to go to Catholic schools, although as we saw recently in a survey, the majority is not in favour, so certain distinctions must be made.
The important question is to find out whether the Montreal component of Quebec society will be able to integrate the children of immigrants and of new citizens of Quebec, which is vital to maintaining, if not improving, the position of the French language in Quebec.
Accordingly, and I would like to come back to the nuances I mentioned, parents clearly want their children to continue to be educated in religious history and in religion in school. They do not want their children to remain ignorant about the existence of religion, authority, the Bible and the Gospel. On the other hand, they are very aware that, if schools are to teach religion, there will have to be schools for all the denominations that make up the religious mosaic of Montreal.
This issue is therefore both complex and delicate. For Quebecers, and especially those in Montreal, it means that, if the Constitution as it stands is not changed, it will be impossible, for all intents and purposes, to reorganize the schools so as to promote integration.
There was an attempt by the previous government to have the Supreme Court interpret a bill that did not pass, through a change to section 93. The result was ludicrous, because it split up school systems by maintaining the religious elements and tacking on French or English elements to them. The resulting fragmentation would be extremely expensive, but would not serve the fundamental needs I mentioned earlier.
As a Quebecer, I can easily understand what the people of Newfoundland want, especially since they worked so hard for something that was imposed on Quebec, namely the patriation of the Constitution.
For the rest of Canada, for francophones outside Quebec, whose assimilation, which is on the rise and alarmingly so in some cases, seems a tragedy, the fact that the House of Commons can, by a majority vote, change what was guaranteed by the Constitution--
not to the minority but to certain groups-seems to pose a serious danger.
Would this House vote for the elimination of the constitutional provisions that protect francophones in one western province or another?
I know that, whether they speak French or English, my colleagues opposite who are concerned about this strongly oppose this measure and I can understand why.
The result of this alarming assimilation rate in some parts of the country is that the rights of the francophone minority in Canada are being and will continue to be trampled. In this respect, the vote on this motion has set a precedent, not because it concerns religious guarantees but because it concerns guarantees entrenched in the Constitution. I can understand my hon. colleagues when they say that a line may have been crossed.
We fought with all our energy for francophones outside Quebec. Our history-and there is no doubt about this in my mind-is the reason why the Official Languages Act exists. As a historian by training, I have no hesitation in saying that the Official Languages Act would never have seen the light of day, had it not been for the tumultuous language debates that took place in Quebec during the sixties.
Had these debates not taken place, Prime Minister Trudeau would never have had any reason to impose on the whole country an act which a large number of Canadians did not want. This act was passed because people believed it would settle the Quebec issue. They were bitterly disappointed when they realized that this was not what Quebec wanted. What Quebec wants is to eventually have all the powers. It does not want an official languages act imposed from coast to coast.
So this is an important vote. It was an important vote the first time and it is an important vote today.
I believe that the existence in a mostly French speaking, sovereign Quebec of an English speaking minority would also help protect the French speaking minority in Canada.
Again, for the time being, I understand the hesitations of the members opposite. I understand them because, in spite of the very disappointing and shallow comments made by the heritage minister, life for francophones outside Quebec is not easy. These people have to perform daily heroics, as I have frequently seen during trips to the western provinces, Ontario and, occasionally, Acadia.
Daily heroism is not conducive, among other things, to maintaining the enthusiasm of young people. We know that assimilation is rampant and almost a normal phenomenon when these young people marry English speaking persons. It must be noted that the assimilation rate in Ontario is 38 per cent, and rises to 76 per cent the further west you go. The situation is getting worse, not better, and is a cause for serious concern.
It will not be by refusing to pass the amendment sought by Newfoundland, which is facing an educational and denominational organization that is very difficult and complex for a small province, or by preventing Newfoundland from resolving this problem that the growing assimilation in western Canada will be halted. I think this issue will be, not resolved, for it is too late for that, but at least affected by energetic measures that we have yet to see, which will focus attention on the problem and slow down the rate of assimilation.
One thing I would like to point out, and this still falls within the area we are talking about, is how many functionally or totally illiterate francophones there are outside Quebec, and how rare and inaccessible the measures are to help them learn to read in their own language. My point is that, in order to protect the future, we need to take active, energetic steps, rather than stand in Newfoundland's way.