Mr. Speaker, this is a rather odd motion we have before us today. When I first looked at it, I was not all that surprised at the government's approach, because as justice critic I have had to look at a number of bills and am becoming increasingly aware that the federal government is, under the guise of the preponderance it claims to have under the Constitution, under the guise of peace, order and good government, or under the guise of criminal law, encroaching more and more on areas under provincial jurisdiction.
This week we had another striking example, Bill C-14 on drinking water. Is there any area more provincial than water? No, yet the federal government is interfering.
Things are getting more and more complicated with the government over there. A while ago, we found it somewhat amusing to watch the matter of which jurisdiction the St. Lawrence River came under. You will see that there is a parallel in this. What they said was “The bottom of the St. Lawrence is federal. The water is provincial. The fish swimming in the St. Lawrence are provincial. As soon as they are caught, taken out of the water, and put into the boat, they are provincial fish in a federally registered boat, constructed under provincial regulations, and governed by federal safety regulations”. So there you are, what a fine great country Canada is.
Finally, we address a subject similar to this motion. When a couple separates in Canada—this is referred to directly in the motion—this is provincial legislation. But when they divorce, this is federal legislation. And if that were not sufficiently complex, the federal government has decided in its wisdom as a centralizer, of course, to table a motion and mandate some of the dear senators. I hope they will find enough of them awake to fill the positions. There will be 7 senators and 16 MPs with the two co-chairs, making up a nice little committee to examine child custody, visiting rights, parenting and so on.
This motion is worded so broadly that it encompasses large areas directly under provincial jurisdiction. I will give you a few examples of this. In Quebec, the mechanisms for implementing custody and visiting rights when there is a separation come under the Civil Code. The federal government has nothing to do with it. Parenting of children comes under parental authority, a jurisdiction of the Quebec National Assembly. The federal government has nothing to do with this. As regards the school system, which is under provincial jurisdiction, the federal government has no business intervening.
Then there is the federal government's unwarranted intrusion in the lives of individuals. The motion talks about “practices that would emphasize joint parental responsibilities and child-focused parenting arrangements based on children's needs and best interests”. What is the federal government doing in this area? Tell me. It is provocation, pure and simple. It has no business in this area of jurisdiction.
I wondered how the people opposite, who are supposed to be intelligent, can be guilty of such provocation?