Madam Speaker, I was disappointed that the hon. member spent half the time of his speech on this important historic constitutional amendment making cheap, sarcastic, partisan remarks which were entirely out of place in this debate.
There is a time for that kind of thing in this House but this is not one of those times. This hon. member stooped to pretty low levels in his comments.
One of his first comments was that the Reform Party does not understand his Canada. It is not just his country, it is mine as well. It is our country. I understand this history pretty darn well. Before this debate started I read the Confederation debates from cover to cover. I challenge the member or any one of his caucus to go up in a history test anytime with the hon. Leader of the Opposition who probably knows more about the history of this country in the compact of Confederation than virtually any member of this place.
Sir Charles Tupper said in 1896 that without the guarantee of section 93 for the rights of minorities being embodied in the new constitution, we should have been unable to have obtained any confederation whatever.
What the hon. member is seeking to remove from the constitution today in terms of its application to Quebec is the basic compact of Confederation in the words of the supreme court, in the words of Peter Hogg, our pre-eminent constitutional authority. Part of my objection to this amendment is predicated on our history, on our historical recognition of the rights of minorities and the confessional rights of parents to send their children to the educational institution of their choice.
The hon. member talked about consensus. He said that the members of the national assembly were acting responsibly and demonstrating democratic consent. What about the quarter of a million Quebeckers who signed a petition objecting to this amendment? What about the coalition that represents 600,000 Quebeckers that came before the committee objecting to this amendment? What about half the witnesses, francophone witnesses, Catholic witnesses, Protestant witnesses, witnesses with many different backgrounds who are opposed to this amendment because it removes and extinguishes forever a basic constitutional right and a basic civil right, the right of parents to choose the education of their children? What about those witnesses?
They were not represented at the national assembly because it did not have hearings. It would not know what they had to say about this. There has been no debate about the confessionnalité implications of the removal of section 93. And this member preens on members of Parliament acting responsibly.
I sat as an associate on the committee and I recall this member hardly being at even half the hearings. I do not recall him being at the clause by clause review where we wrote the majority report, where Reform made many positive and constructive amendments which found their way into the majority report. I do not recall that member asking a single question of a witness before that committee, so I do not need to be lectured by that hon. member when it comes to the responsible exercise of our parliamentary responsibilities.
I will ask this member a question. With all partisan nonsense aside, does he not recognize that when we remove section 93, the full force of the charter will apply to the Quebec education system and that if we are to take the judicial precedents in Ontario as a guide we will see that the confessional education elements of the Quebec education act will be found unconstitutional? Does he not recognize the almost unanimous legal opinions brought before the committee that the confessional elements of the Quebec school system will be threatened by the charter if section 93 is removed? Forget the partisan stuff. Does he recognize that or not? If he does recognize it, why is he prepared to undermine the confessionnalité of the Quebec schools that the vast majority of Quebeckers wants to maintain?