Mr. Speaker, last Thursday when the Reform Party released its so-called new Canada act, its leader said it contained some of Reform's best ideas for strengthening the federation.
If Reform wants to know what Canadians think of its best ideas, the francophone communities outside Quebec, including mine in the riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, have responded with a big no thank you.
These groups have told the Reform Party that there must continue to be a strong role for the federal government in ensuring that the rights of the official language minorities are safeguarded. Canada's francophones recognize this would not be possible if the federal government were to simply abdicate its responsibility to the provinces as Reform would have us do.
Reform's old ideas about abandoning official language minorities do not look any better now that they have been reprinted with a fancy new cover. They are still bad news for francophones outside Quebec. That is why Canadians continue to reject them.
You have another think coming, my friends.