Bill 101 has nothing to do with it. Come to Quebec and you will see that we respect our minorities. I can guarantee that, in front of everybody in this House.
Bill 101? To all those people who have never been to Quebec, to those who present motions accusing us of sedition, to those who are investigated because they did not abide by the rules on official languages, to those who do not even bother to have a French newspaper in their province, I will say that this is much more outrageous than Bill 101. That is another thing that should be said in this House.
The Quebec government said, in a document published on April 7, 1995, and I quote: "April 7, 1995"-it would have been more clever if you had presented your motion a year ago.-"It is not necessary to form a very large army, but Quebec could at least adopt a coherent defence policy, suited to its needs". It is clear that the question is not new. It was in our draft bill on Quebec sovereignty, it was in a working paper published in April 1995, and if you want to accuse people of sedition I will give you another name.
He was professor of strategic studies at the former military college in Saint-Jean and he tabled a report before the Montreal commission on Quebec's future. We are talking here about a professor who was working for the Canadian Armed Forces and was paid by the Canadian government. I can tell you that he was being quite seditious.
The title of his report was: "The future for a defence policy in a sovereign Quebec". He works for the Canadian Armed Forces. Is he also going to be hanged at Pied-du-Courant on June 24?
"Should sovereignty occur, it would be necessary for Quebec to consider defining and implementing a defence policy". What would such a policy be like? "The mandate of a Quebec armed force, whether independent or associated with the rest of Canada, could be geared to two secondary responsibilities: first, territorial surveillance and public order; second, peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations.
A professor of strategic studies at the Collège militaire de Saint-Jean dares to write a document alluding to the possibility of a sovereign Quebec. Wow! That guy was going rather far, was he not? Anything is possible, right? Yet, that gentleman was not accused of treason, sedition, lese-majesty or anything else.
He was referring to a distinct possibility in Quebec. Quebecers did not suddenly wake up on October 28; they were aware long before of the real possibility that Quebec might become a sovereign state. Are people told about that reality? Are they simply told, as Reformers said: "If you respect democracy, we will send in the army"? No. We are civilized and we say: "Listen, should Quebec become sovereign, here is what will happen". Just like we told federal public servants: "We will sign an agreement to have you integrated into the new Quebec public service".
We also told old age pensioners: "We will continue to pay you those pensions". We said the same thing to retired federal public servants. Not because we are richer, but because the money is in funds which exist and which belong to those who made contributions. This is not a mortal sin. I am warning you now: there will be another referendum, so you had better prepare yourself psychologically.
I will conclude by saying that if Reformers are interested in working for the Cirque du Soleil, I will be happy to get them job application forms and then take the forms to the circus.