Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Témiscamingue for this overview that was much too brief for lack of time. I will try to be brief in my question in order to give him ample time to answer.
I would like my colleague to elaborate on a vital aspect of this reference to the Supreme Court. Is it acceptable, in 1998, in a democracy, for a government to refer such matters to a court, its own creation, consisting of a panel of nine judges appointed by the federal government itself? To reinforce that argument, one just has to look at the very close ties that the last two judges appointed to the Supreme Court have to the Liberal Party. Is it normal, is it acceptable, in 1998, in a democracy such as Canada, for a federal court consisting of a panel of nine judges appointed by the government to be asked to substitute itself for the democratic will of 7 million Quebeckers?