Mr. Speaker, I am happy because we will get to the bottom of some things.
First of all, as far as linguistic school boards are concerned, let me remind the government House leader that there was unanimity at the Quebec national assembly. Through its national assembly, Quebec had the power to determine the structure of its schools because, as far as I know, education is a provincial jurisdiction.
Ottawa wanted to teach us a lesson and said “No, no; maybe they do not understand properly in Quebec. We are going to show them how things are done”.
For those people across the way, a consensus is not enough; the unanimous consent of the national assembly is not sufficient. This time, things are very different because the Quebec government is opposed to the measure. That is why the situation is not the same. Let us compare what is comparable.
Second, some people say we look down on Francophones living outside Quebec. I have heard that very often. It is absolutely false. Maybe we have talked about the Reform Party, but we have also talked on several occasions about the sovereignists.
Francophones outside Quebec have rights simply because they exist and not because Quebec is part of the federation. They will never serve as hostages in negotiations with Quebec. English Quebecers have rights in Quebec, not because Quebec is part of the Canadian federation, but because they do have rights and these rights will be respected.
I submit to the hon. member that he should fight in the other provinces so that francophones outside Quebec enjoy the same rights as anglophones in Quebec. He should support the Montfort battle instead of making false accusations here.
Third, as regards unions, the member's former colleague was the president of a central labour body in Quebec. I was with the CSN, where a change to the constitution required a vote of 50% plus one.
If a union wants to leave a central labour body, there is a so-called period of union raiding. The hon. member is not familiar with the Quebec legislation, but his colleagues from Quebec should be. Every two or three years, a union can leave and join another central labour body. The ultimate way to effect a change is when the Department of Labour, which is more or less the supreme court of labour relations, imposes a vote in which the absolute majority applies, that is the 50% plus one rule. The hon. member knows that.