Mr. Speaker, as the Standing Orders permit, I signal the return of the Prime Minister. I am happy he is back with us.
Yesterday the Prime Minister linked federal intervention in the Bertrand case to the fact that the Government of Quebec may or may not defend itself in court, saying that, if the Government of Quebec did not participate, it would be easier for his government to not participate.
By using this sort of blackmail to induce Quebec not to defend itself before the courts, is the new strategy of the Prime Minister not, in the end, to make the courts the sole arbiter of the right of Quebecers to decide their future?