Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Dauphin—Swan River. I will repeat the motion so it is clear for all members of the House:
That this House recognize that strengthening the unity of Canada is its highest priority and given that nine provincial premiers and two territorial leaders have begun a process of consultation on national unity built on the Calgary declaration, this House:
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endorses the efforts of the premiers, the territorial leaders and grassroots Canadians to foster national unity;
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declares its support for the consultation process begun by the premiers and territorial leaders;
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urges Canadians to become involved in the consultation process and in particular to express their approval of, disapproval of, or suggested improvements to such principles as the equality of citizens and provinces, respect for diversity including the unique character of Quebec society, and the need for rebalancing the powers of the provincial and federal governments;
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urges the Government of Canada and members of this House to communicate with Quebeckers regarding the Calgary declaration, and to consult the people of Quebec on its contents; and
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regrets that the separatist government of Quebec has chosen not to participate in the discussion of national unity, and has refused to include Quebeckers in the consultation on the Calgary declaration.
In the first Oral Question Period, I asked the Prime Minister if he would be putting the Calgary Declaration to the people of Quebec. He said he might, and, quite honestly, I was satisfied with his response.
I understand it is not easy for the Prime Minister to stand up to Mr. Bouchard and his separatist acolytes. As the Prime Minister has spent his political career humouring and appeasing the separatists, he was displaying his exceptional leadership skills when he said he might put the Calgary Declaration to Quebeckers.
Two months have passed since the Prime Minister said in the early days of this Parliament that he would perhaps put the Calgary Declaration to the people of Quebec. I have remained patient only because I thought perhaps the Prime Minister needed time to discuss the idea with his advisors. I thought maybe he needed time to formulate a plan.
Did he put the time to good use? No. Instead of formulating a plan for submitting the Calgary Declaration to Quebeckers, he simply pretended it was not necessary to consult them. Why bother consulting the people of Quebec on the Calgary Declaration, when they already know what it is about and already support the constitutional proposal?
Why waste all that money holding public consultations in Quebec and risk displeasing the separatists, when you know already what Quebeckers think about the issue? That is the message the Prime Minister was sending to Canadians.
Finally, on October 3, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs said in this House that the Calgary Declaration had support from British Columbia to Newfoundland. I found it strange when the Globe and Mail reported on September 29 that a public poll showed that Quebeckers did not even understand the Calgary declaration.
Quebeckers do not know whether or not the expression “unique character” means the same thing as “distinct society”. They are not sure whether the Calgary declaration would give them the same powers, fewer powers or more powers. Yet, according to the Hon. Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Quebeckers strongly support the declaration.
I think it would be better to consult with the people of Quebec on this before stating that they support it. And the Quebeckers I spoke to agree with me.
On October 31, nearly a month after questioning the Prime Minister about public consultations, I asked him if he had any concrete plans for consultations in Quebec. The reply I got was that the government still had no plans in that respect. One month later, the government did not even have a plan.
At that time, all the provinces and territories, except Quebec, were conducting public consultations or in the process of planning and preparing for consultations. Only Quebec was not in on this, and the government was still dragging its feet.
I looked at the public consultation plans of the provinces and territories. In fact, members of the Reform Party actively encourage their constituents to participate in these consultations. We want Canadians to take charge of their country's future. I had hoped that the Prime Minister would want Quebeckers to do the same, but this seems to be the least of his worries.
Since I am a particularly persistent man, on November 19, I asked the Prime Minister again—for the third time—whether he would be putting the Calgary declaration to the people of Quebec and respecting their democratic right to participate in constitutional consultations which are likely to change the face of this country.
Here is what the Prime Minister replied: “We are not saying that we will not hold consultations in Quebec but at the same time we are not saying that we will”.
After nearly two months, the Prime Minister has nothing to say and Canadians are losing patience.
We must not let the Calgary declaration fail through negligence. If it does not capture the interest of Canadians, if it is incapable of defining and embodying the future values and visions of Canadians, it will have failed for good reason. But if it fails because the people of Quebec do not view it as a constitutional proposal that they have helped to forge and that reflects their desire for greater autonomy, then it will have failed because of the negligence of this government.
The people of Quebec deserve to be heard. I therefore urge the Prime Minister to set aside petty political considerations and to consult the people of Quebec without delay. I urge the Prime Minister and the Liberal caucus to support this motion.