Yes, they are supposed to be, as one of my colleagues said. But, perhaps we should look at the background to this motion.
We have to go back to the 35th Parliament, where little deals were made here in the House, not with the duly elected members sitting here, but with the two or three senators who were not sleeping in the other place. Deals were made with the federal government and they were told “Let Bill C-41 on child support pass, and we will find you a little something to do. We will arrange it so you can look at the issues of custody and access after divorce”. That was the deal made at the time to get C-41 through.
What is this motion about? It concerns both divorce and separation. It is much broader. However, the many members opposite who support the minister's motion should open their ears to what a member of the Bloc Quebecois has to say on the matter rather than watching what is happening above. Our comments are important, and perhaps if they paid a little more attention to Quebec's historical demands, we would not be here discussing the distribution of powers or anything else. The problem between Canada and Quebec would have been settled 35 years ago.
That having been said, I understand that the topic, which has to do with child custody from a financial or parenting point of view after separation, is a serious one. We are not saying that it is not serious or important. On the contrary, it is very much so, but it is up to the provinces, not the federal government, to legislate in this area.
As far as Quebec is concerned, I am well placed to address this issue, first because I am an MP from Quebec, and second because I am a lawyer. I argued matrimonial cases before I was elected to office. Since that time, things have even improved in Quebec with the recent reforms introduced by the PQ government, some of which took effect on May 1, 1997, and others of which took effect recently on September 1, 1997.
We in Quebec have a model for setting support payments that reflects the importance Quebec places on its children. This model takes into account the income of both parents and the length of custody. In addition, a form and a guide for determining amounts are made available to parents, mediators, counsel and judges. The model is so good that the federal government has agreed to apply it in cases of divorce, while we naturally applied it in cases of separation, since separation comes under provincial jurisdiction. And all this has been in effect since May 1, 1997.
They are talking about family mediation as though it were the discovery of the century. Family mediation was already around in Quebec when I was practising law, between 1986 and 1995, but since September 1, we have improved our approach, making it much more structured. This family mediation, which we have Minister Serge Ménard to thank for, is free for the first six sessions and may be conducted by lawyers, notaries, guidance counsellors, psychologists, social workers and so on. In 1996, there were 459 mediators in Quebec; today there are 735. There is therefore a market, and this service is used in Quebec.
The legislation provides for a process of registering decisions with a special clerk in order to speed matters up, because there is also an important issue at stake: there is no stalling around when it comes to children's rights, parents' visiting rights, salary, family income; decisions must be taken quickly. A follow-up committee will submit a report on the process to the Minister of Justice, in the fall of 1998. Serious work is being done; measures are being applied and a follow-up will take place.
As you can see, whether it is child support setting, mediation, children's rights, the right to attend school, alimony, etc., Quebec has already adopted major legislation on all these issues. Today, if the federal government really wanted to show its good will in this regard, it could withdraw without any problem from family law and even divorce matters.
It could immediately decide to get out of these areas. A whole section of the Quebec civil code has been passed but is not being applied, because it is beyond our jurisdiction. The National Assembly could immediately and without any problems start dealing with divorces, which would improve harmonization and better reflect what really goes on in Quebec, with a very comprehensive civil code. Our code deals with the appropriate issues and truly meets the needs of Quebec families.
We can dream, but we know the federal government will not do it. In the last 30 years, it has been increasingly interfering in areas under provincial jurisdiction, including those of Quebec.
The motion shows that, when it comes to parenting, the federal government does not hesitate to get involved in this area, which comes under provincial jurisdiction. As I said earlier about the federal government interfering in people's lives, I think that too is not its jurisdiction.
All this to say that my initial reaction to this motion was to say “We in the Bloc Quebecois must not take any part in this charade. We in the Bloc Quebecois must not be a party to this centralizing approach, an approach that does not in any way reflect Quebec's demands”.
However, after talking the matter over with the hon. member for Longueuil in particular—she is very sensitive to the needs of women's groups in Quebec and has met with many groups involved in this matter—I realized that these groups also agree that the federal government is stepping in areas that are none of its concern. They nevertheless wanted us to be involved. They wanted us to be there to voice our opposition to this extremely centralizing bill. And that is what we shall do.
The hon. member for Longueuil, whose professionalism is well known, will take part in this committee to represent Quebec's point of view. She will also make the point that, in Quebec, we are at the forefront in several areas, and family issues in particular.
If at all possible, because I am a perpetual optimist, we in the Bloc Quebecois will try to bring the government and those senators who are not asleep round to our opinion. We will try to convince them that they should not interfere in this area but rather give it over to each province's legislative assembly.
But if we are unable to change their minds on a matter as important as this one, I am confident that the hon. member for Longueuil will let our caucus know and, if the government does not yield to the Bloc's arguments, in her wisdom, she will table a minority report.
That having been said, you will understand that, yes, we will take part in the work of this committee if it is struck. We will pay close attention and very strongly insist that Quebec's demands in this area of jurisdiction be met.
I have been hearing all sorts of comments coming from the other side since I rose to take part in this debate. There is one thing I would like to say: if it is true that the members opposite are so committed to the interests of children, why then have they not yet endorsed the Quebec-France agreement on child support? This agreement directly concerns the children of Quebec, and yet the government opposite is wrangling over procedures, scrutinizing every comma and preventing thousands of Quebec families from receiving child support from overseas.
If the government is truly committed to the interests of children, it should endorse the agreement that has been signed between Quebec and France, and maybe then we will be able to believe them when they say they are committed to families, to sound management in this area of responsibility that does not belong to them.
We will be showing openness by attending the hearings to be held by this committee, although we find it useless and a waste of time, and I hope that the government opposite will at least be smart enough to listen to our demands and to take them into account in any future legislation.