Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the premiers of Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick and Quebec once again asked that the social union issue be settled before the next federal budget.
However, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs says there is no urgency and that it would be easier to negotiate with a federalist government in Quebec.
Does the minister realize that, in making this comment, he is sending us the message that with a more docile government in Quebec, a Jean Charest government, provincial demands would be lesser and thus easier to meet for the federal government?