Madam Speaker, I will try to be brief and serene and just say a word or two as to why the NDP caucus will be supporting the motion to send this matter to committee.
Regardless of what unanimity may exist in the National Assembly in Quebec, obviously a variety of concerns if not viewpoints have been expressed here this afternoon that point out the reason why we have due constitutional process in this place.
Constitutional resolutions which are to be considered by the House of Commons are as a rule considered by a special joint committee. It is only appropriate despite the obvious anxiousness on the part of the Government of Quebec and perhaps the National Assembly of Quebec that this be expedited as quickly as possible, that we observe this due process and have the opportunity to consult broadly with all Canadians who may be concerned about this particular constitutional resolution.
I share the perspective of the Reform Party with respect to the continuing inappropriateness of the role of Senate, not individual senators but of the Senate, in so far as its undemocratic nature is always a procedural contaminant in our proceedings here, especially when we are required to do things in the context of a special joint committee.
I would also remind the Leader of the Opposition that long before the Reform Party darkened these halls or lit these halls, depending on one's perspective, the NDP and before that the CCF were calling for the abolition of the Senate, precisely because it offended our democratic values and our feeling that whatever institution we have, whether it be no Senate or a new Senate, that it be democratic in nature.
There are a variety of reasons why this is a very important matter. Many of them have been touched on already. It does have the possibility of setting a precedent, if not a legal precedent at least a political precedent with respect to how similar issues will be dealt with in other provinces.
I think there is legitimate concern among the religious constituencies not just in Quebec but outside Quebec as to how we deal with these issues. We are mindful of the fact that we will be dealing with another not identical but nevertheless related issue, that of the future of denominational schools in Newfoundland. Therefore how we deal with this both in terms of process and in terms of substance is very important.
It has to do with the whole role and relationship between minority rights and the role of the majority. This is a very difficult question. It always has been and always will be. It needs to be sorted out as well as can be in respect of this issue. It has to do with national unity. We need to deal with this sensitively in respect of Quebec but we also need to respect due process. We want to do that in a way that can be respected by the National Assembly in Quebec and the Government of Quebec in so far as that is possible.
We also need to use this and other opportunities that will be presented to us to have if not a full debate, at least a preliminary debate about the future of the education system in so far as religious values are concerned.
There is an underlying concern, and the minister himself has referred to this as the secularization of the school system in Quebec. It seems to me that for a lot of Canadians, whether they are looking at the situation in Newfoundland where the government is considering getting rid of denominational schools altogether, or in Quebec where the denominational school system is being transformed into a linguistically based school system, there is an underlying question. That question is on the future of education as it pertains to values and how we continue at the same time to recognize that we no longer live in what might be technically called Christendom while on the other hand we want to live in a society where the appropriate role of religious values, religious instruction and religious world view are taken into consideration and not relegated to the realm of something purely private, something that exists only after hours or in some special segregated way.
It would seem to me that we all want to be pluralistic. On the one hand we want to recognize that we no longer live in what can be called Christendom but on the other hand we do not want to accept that we will live with our schools under the illusion that there is no such thing as fundamental values, that there is no such thing as something in which everything we do has to be grounded.
I will stop the theological dissertation at this moment, but this is something we need to pay more attention to when we are talking about education.than we have.
We support the motion. I will reserve judgment on the Reform amendment but on the face of it I do not see why the amendment is necessary. I sometimes think the Reform Party has a talent for moving the obvious in this House when it comes to certain things. I would hope that the committee would not have to be instructed to take into account the matter of democratic consent or the rule of law or the matter of whether or not it is in the Canadian national interest. It seems this would be something that I would hope parliamentarians would do without instruction.
The only thing that remains to be considered is whether the postponement of the reporting date is appropriate. The member from the Bloc raised some of the concerns that the Government of Quebec has with respect to any postponement beyond the date. I feel that has to be taken seriously although the concern does prejudge the outcome of what the hearings will be and what the fate of the resolution will be. However, we know what the fate of the resolution will be because the government has said that it intends to pass this resolution. We presume that its majority will be effective in that respect.
There are a couple of things I cannot resist commenting on. Much was made of the patriation debate or the Constitution of 1982. I think I am the only member of Parliament in the room at the moment who was here during that debate. I say to my Bloc colleagues that this was not passed without the consent of Quebeckers, at least in so far as those of us from outside Quebec perceived it at the time.
There were 75 members of Parliament from Quebec in this House at that time. At least 74 of them voted for that package. It would be wrong in the mythology of the sovereignist movement in Quebec to imagine that somehow members of Parliament from outside Quebec at that time did something in the face of opposition from Quebec as they understood it. They did it in the face of the opposition of a particular government in Quebec at that time, but they had no reason to believe that there was anything in the way of unanimity in Quebec in opposition to that package because they could see every day members of Parliament from Quebec getting up and urging other members of Parliament from outside Quebec to pass that patriation package.
Keep that in mind when telling the story because the story ought to be told in full and not just selectively.