Madam Speaker, if my colleague from the Reform Party changes his vote only because I rose in this House, I will do so a lot more often.
What I have been trying to say is that we have a problem with a referendum. Whatever the percentage in favour of a change, be it 51%, 52% or even 60% or 80%, will they side with the 80% majority who want the change or with the 20% minority who are opposed? That is what I was driving at.
We were talking about minorities a minute ago. When the Constitution was adopted in 1867, Protestants were a minority. I was on the committee that studied school reform to make schools non-denominational. I did not receive any letters from the bishops of Quebec saying that they were concerned about changes to section 93.
I did not receive any letters from Protestant leaders either, even though, being on the committee, I was close to the situation. This issue did not arise only three weeks ago. It was debated in the National Assembly in April 1997 by the PQ government and the Liberal opposition. I think it was the best time for a party to score political points. But even the Liberal opposition was in favour.
That is why I was saying earlier that people must be careful when they say that it is the separatists who want this change. I think there is a consensus among Quebeckers on this issue. We are adding fuel to the fire if, every time Quebeckers make a request, we are unwilling to listen and unable to work with them only because they are separatists. We are suggesting to them that they do not need to stay in Canada since they cannot be heard anyway.
I may have a problem with separatists, but it is my problem. Every time Quebeckers ask something of us, I think it is wrong to pin the separatist label on them, especially when we see that there is a consensus among bishops, parents, school boards and all the people of Quebec on this issue. There may not have been public hearings just before the change, but there was a consensus in most groups.
So I think we must be careful with this. This is a warning. We must also be careful with what we say in this House. If we want to keep Quebec in Canada, we must treat it with respect.