Mr. Speaker, today, the government wishes to commemorate the inception, in 1848, of the first responsible government in the United Canada.
The government is right in saying that the victory of the Lafontaine-Baldwin coalition is an important step in the evolution of democracy in Canada, and that this coalition is an example of co-operation between francophones and anglophones.
But what this federal government does not tell us is that the very foundation of the alliance between Lafontaine and Baldwin was their willingness to recognize as equals and partners the two peoples living side by side in a united Canada. In other words, when Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin joined forces, what moved them was a recognition of, and respect for, the two founding peoples.
Since the unilateral patriation of the Constitution in 1982, the federal government has denied that reality. Since then, it has ridden roughshod over the principles of 1848. It seeks to deny the very existence of the Quebec people. It prefers arrogance and confrontation to the recognition and respect that prevailed at the time.
For this reason, we shall not be participating today in this commemoration of 1848.