Mr. Speaker, you may find that I am seated a bit too far, but we are not responsible for the situation. As you know, there was a byelection in the riding of Sherbrooke in which we lost a seat and we have come to terms with that. In fact, I want to congratulate the new hon. member of the Bloc Quebecois who will soon be joining us.
Do not worry, our priorities are elsewhere. We do not intend to quarrel over this and you can be assured that our priorities will not be over the seating pattern of the House of Commons. We thought we had reached an interesting compromise, but we were told at the last minute that it would not fly.
Too many serious issues have our constituents concerned for us to start to quarrel over this. However, it is unfortunate that a whole party had to be displaced to reallocate one seat. It seems an extraordinary measure to take to make room for one newly elected member of Parliament from the Bloc Quebecois.
Anyway, you may rest assured that we are still proud to be here, in the House of Commons, to stand for our constituents and also to represent the Progressive Conservative Party, which is the only national alternative to the government in office.
In this spirit, these days, we may be last, but you can be sure that one day we will be first. I think it is the right way to react to this massive displacement following the election of only one new member of Parliament.
I now want to deal with the motion put forward by our hon. colleague from the Reform Party on the documentation related to the Calgary declaration. It is quite surprising to see that the motion today is put by a Reform member, at a time when the people have a whole different set of priorities. No one can be against a statement of principle, the Calgary declaration, that includes praiseworthy objectives. However, we should stop constantly coming back to this issue and wanting to make this debate a priority—
I regularly go back to my riding. I have frequent opportunities to speak with my fellow citizens. The focus is on the priorities of concern to them, whether it be the development of business or of tourism, or the fact that the bulk of Quebeckers, and most other Canadians as well, have trouble obtaining quality health care. No one ever refers to the Calgary declaration.
I think that taking a frivolous approach to a debate like today's is tantamount to a lack of respect for our fellow citizens. Such is my perception. I must tell the House quite honestly that it is far removed from what our fellow citizens are concerned about.
I have no objections to a party wanting to have complete documentation on a declaration that has been made. Of course our party is in favour of that. But making this the object of a House of Commons debate proves just how far the Reform Party is prepared to go in stirring up things around the fact that by far the majority of our fellow citizens want to see constitutional peace. We hear regularly from two-thirds of Quebeckers that constitutional debate is one of their lowest priorities. I believe that we here in the House of Commons must show some responsibility and not keep coming back to this same debate.
There is a better way of casting some light on the debate and of affording people of good will in this country, and all of its governments, with the opportunity to reach agreements that will work in favour of the development of our communities.
That way is to not keep harking back to the constitutional issue, since our fellow citizens have asked us to take a breather on this. I am not fully convinced about the real intentions of the Reform MPs.
It has often been said that what goes around comes around. Judging by the focus of their campaign advertising during the last election campaign, how can anyone take this motion before the House in good faith? They say “We want the documentation relating to the Calgary declaration”. Let them get it, read it over and over, go into it in detail. They are out of touch with reality with this.
What is serious though is that after running an advertising campaign that excluded seven million Canadians—that is all of Quebec—during the election campaign, they now come up with a motion such as the one before us. This shows a blatant disregard for the issues that our fellow citizens want us to tackle on their behalf.
The Reform Party's intentions seem questionable to me. Members will remember Bill C-237, asking that the federal government be authorized to negotiate the terms of separation. We may regulate everything we want, but we will never manage to keep in the same room people who do not want to be together. Regulating the constitutional issue is the best way to destroy the country, to split it up.
I feel that Reformers want to pursue that avenue because it is a matter of survival for them. Reformers survive because of the splits between the various regions of the country. They survive in a very specific region because they make their fellow citizens believe that all other Canadians are against western Canada. I am convinced that all Canadians, including westerners, want constitutional peace, and the only way to achieve that peace is to stop making matters worse by tabling motions such as this one.
The Reform Party is adding fuel to the fire, as it did during the last election campaign and continues to do here in this House. It promotes division to ensure its own survival in the regions that it represents. Reformers have absolutely no national agenda.
Again, regulating the constitutional issue is the best way to destroy the country. If such is the objective, then let them continue down that road.
Among the issues that our fellow citizens want us to tackle is deciding what do to with an accumulated surplus of $20 billion, thanks to the excessive premiums imposed by the government. The government is about to make important decisions: should it lower taxes, reduce premiums or invest in specific areas? It is urgent that we begin a consultation process to find out what exactly our fellow citizens would like us to do with that surplus. These are the issues that people want us to tackle.
It is wrong for the Reform Party to keep going against people's will. I doubt there is a single Canadian, including in western Canada, who asked the Reform Party member to table a motion asking that we have access to all documents relating to the Calgary declaration. Westerners, like Quebeckers, like people in my riding of Chicoutimi, want us to tackle the issues that are of concern to them. These issues are employment, economic development, the creation of new businesses—