Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the member for Lotbinière.
The hon. member suggests that we take up this issue with the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. Was the question put to Mr. Facal, Quebec's intergovernmental affairs minister, who said, in November, that the government of Quebec would never comply with the supreme court opinion? This was a call to civil disobedience. Does this means that the hon. member is for civil disobedience?
I would even go further. If 50% plus one is the democratic limit universally accepted, why is it not mentioned in Quebec's referendum legislation? Why did Mr. Burns, the PQ minister responsible for this legislation in Quebec, say, when introducing this bill, that the “moral weight” of a referendum that would be won based on the clearly and widely expressed will of the people would have to be assessed?
I have a very interesting question for the hon. member. If 50% plus one is the democratic limit universally accepted, does he support the precedent that France created regarding Comoros, the group of islands off Madagascar, when it decided that regions that vote against independence may remain a part of France?