Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague's question is so clear that the answer becomes obvious.
It does not make sense to let nine judges hold in their hands the future of our people, because it is the future of Quebeckers that is at stake here. We talked about the appointment process, the fact that these judges are appointed by the Prime Minister. Moreover, two of these judges were appointed after it was known that there would be a reference to the Supreme Court on that issue.
Looking closely, it is obvious there is a kind of incestuous relationship there, to say the least. In their infinite wisdom nine judges will decide, based on the Constitution, what kind of a future we, Quebeckers, can have.
Think about it. During the last democratic exercise in Quebec, the voter turnout was almost 93% if I remember correctly. So 93% of all those old enough to vote, millions of Quebeckers, voted at the end of a long debate during which the federal government kept repeating what it always says, that is: “The question is not clear. What is at stake is this and that”. Today, they may have come to realize that their campaign was not all that effective, because now they say: “The people did not understand”. I for one think that the people did understand very well indeed.
It was a long debate, nothing new in Quebec. The people know full well what is at stake. At the end of the campaign, 93% of all voters decided: “We are going to vote, to state our positions.”
The majority voted no. We respect the will of these people. No one has put in motion the process leading to sovereignty. Nevertheless, we still believe that it is the best solution and we continue to promote it.
We were reelected as Bloc members, as sovereigntist representatives in Ottawa. People in Quebec will have to chose between sovereigntists and federalists during the next provincial election. This is par for the course, and people are fully aware of the situation.
In the final analysis, how can there be a balance between 7 million people on one side and nine supreme court justices on the other? Let us be serious. It does not make any sense and I have no doubt that Quebeckers understand this very well. That is why the provincial Liberals in Quebec, the Parti Quebecois, the Bloc Quebecois, the Conservative Party, the bishops, a cardinal, business people, people from all walks of life, say that it does not make sense.
Only the Prime Minister and the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs defend this strategy, and they drag the federal government into their crazy enterprise, plus the person most sympathetic to the Quebec cause, the leader of the Reform Party. Can you imagine this fine group organizing our future? These people are trying to manipulate the court, to put us in shackles, and they would like us to buy it? No way.
Calmly, peacefully, we keep explaining the situation and we realize that, as people from all walks of life start to react, more and more of them are adding their voices to those who already oppose this reference, and I am convinced that the movement will snowball.
Therefore, to answer my colleague's question, it is clear that this makes no more sense in 1998 than it did 25 or 30 years ago and it will be the same five years from now because, in a democracy, citizens are free to decide their own future. This is true for all peoples, including the Quebec people.