Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister's answer gives the clear impression that he is completely out of touch.
With each passing day, the government is becoming increasingly isolated with respect to its Supreme Court reference. Yesterday, it was the turn of the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta, which represents 60,000 Franco-Albertans, to ask the federal government to abandon its reference to the Supreme Court.
With this popular rejection now spreading outside Quebec, will the government agree that the only responsible, and courageous, thing to do would be to withdraw its reference to the Supreme Court before hearings begin?