Mr. Speaker, I greatly appreciated my colleague's speech. It was polite and eloquent but it meant nothing.
I would suggest, if he has the time, that he read a book by a journalist at The Globe and Mail , Ray Conlogue, entitled The Impossible Nation . He would learn a lot from that book on the reality of Canada, a reality symbolized by the Calgary declaration.
In 1980, there was a referendum, the first referendum ever held in Quebec, and on that occasion, Quebec told Canada how much its situation in Canada was frustrating. That referendum led to the Meech Lake agreement, the Meech Lake formula proposed by a federalist Quebec government, Robert Bourassa's government. That agreement represented the minimum Quebec could ask from Canada at the time. Naturally, Canada refused that minimum and there was a second referendum in which Quebec voted even more strongly to express its discomfort at being part of Canada. That process led to the Calgary declaration.
But there is absolutely nothing in this declaration. It is a formula offering even less than the Meech Lake formula, where the uniqueness of Quebec within Canada is mixed in with so many other elements that we no longer recognize Quebec.
I wonder if the member could tell me how the Calgary declaration can solve the problem of unity and equality in Canada.