This does not happen with more than one committee at a time. Anyone who comes to parliament regularly knows how things work in parliament. In general, there can be only one parliamentary committee at a time with access to the room prepared for televising.
This matter has been in the public domain since the supreme court's opinion on the reference, in August 1998. The hon. members over the way cannot, therefore, claim that this is something new, something about which the Canadian public knew nothing. It will be remembered that even the premier of Quebec congratulated the supreme court at the time. He said he was delighted with the court's decision.
Let us remind ourselves of what the supreme court said in this decision. It said that it was up to the political actors, to the elected representatives, to determine what constituted a clear majority in the case of a referendum. The court chose to add the word clear, a question that should be clear or unambiguous. These then were the two criteria established since 1998.
When certain members claim, as one just has, that the contents of the bill introduced in the House on December 13 last were unknown until then, they are not acting very seriously. The supreme court opinion had been known of since 1998, so there was nothing new about it.
Furthermore, they are not acting very seriously either in claiming simultaneously that this bill was introduced on December 13 and that the House is pushing it through too quickly on February 17 of the following year. The members across the way are not acting very seriously, and they are well aware of this.
Members will remember that other bills have been passed in this House and elsewhere a lot faster.
I would like to remind the House why this government believes that we should pass Bill C-20. It is a vital issue for our country. The Government of Canada must play an important role to follow up on the requirement for clarity as set out by the Supreme Court of Canada in its opinion dated August 20, 1998.
It is our duty and our obligation to say which factors will be considered when the time comes to decide if we must negotiate the separation of one province from Canada. Obviously, like most Canadians and Quebecers, I hope this will never happen.
The Bloc members accuse us of having no respect for the National Assembly of Quebec and the population of Quebec. Since when is it undemocratic to ask for clarity? The members opposite say that they respect democracy. Yet they refuse to accept the result of two democratic referendums. They say “Till next time. See you soon” or something to that effect.
The members opposite say “It is not a problem if the public does not share our views. We do not have to respect democracy when the answer is not the one we want. When it is the one we wish for, it is a different matter”. And they claim to be great democrats.
We are not the ones who launched this debate. It is not the Government of Canada. It is not the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs nor the Prime Minister of Canada nor the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. It is not the Government of Canada who is seeking to destroy the country.
However, we said that we would discuss the matter and give the House a role in the decision to undertake negotiations on the secession of a province in the unlikely event—an event I hope will never happen—that a province wanted to leave this beautiful country, which the United Nations has been determined is the best in the world.
We would like very much to put aside the debate concerning another referendum on secession, but the separatist leaders in Quebec refuse to do so.