I would actually submit that clause 3 of the bill is a hollow clause. It really does not commit the government to do anything other than to consult, which would happen normally anyway.
The bottom line of this whole issue, and the reason I do not think we have to seek witnesses outside the House, is that we are really discussing an internal parliamentary democracy issue. The reason I love this bill actually is that it is one of the few instances where parliament has actually seized control and is eliminating the power of the executive.
One of the terrible things that has occurred over the years and I think got us into a lot of trouble with the Charlottetown accord, the Mulroney years and even the Trudeau years, is that the executive branch of government, the Prime Minister and his cabinet, had too much power. Now we have an instance where parliament is actually taking some of that power back. I think it is a very positive thing.
I do not think it is impossible for the Bloc Quebecois to rally more sovereignty support, perhaps not separatism support, but sovereignty support. We see the Reform Party in the House today that is very much in favour of decentralization and more power to the provinces. We know that has been the tradition of the Conservatives for a very long time. We also see that the Conservatives are in fact supporting the Bloc Quebecois on this particular issue.
So theoretically it is possible in this place for us as MPs on all sides of the House to change the nature of the country. But it is an internal problem. It exists in this House. It does not exist in the provinces. It exists between all MPs versus, in many instances, the government.