Mr. Speaker, perhaps the parliamentary secretary who is in charge of the process on the clarity bill has heard the comment and realizes the difficult position the government has put its allies in. Here we are trying to support the government in principle because we feel that clarity on this issue is required, yet the Liberal members carry on in committee in a fashion I have not seen in the seven years I have been in the House.
I have sat on six different committees and I have never seen the type of railroading that I saw when we tried to establish the principles upon which the committee would operate. The official opposition proposed a motion requesting travel. Knowing the importance of the issue and the inability of Canadians to take part in that discussion other than through the committee process, we thought it was important that the committee that has been established to look at Bill C-20 travel across the country to all regions to allow Canadians to participate in this most important debate.
For the people who are watching these proceedings, the Liberal members of the committee defeated that motion. They felt that they did not want to travel to bring this issue before Canadians. I am not sure what the Liberal members are concerned about. I am not sure what they are afraid of.
I think they owe it to Canadians to open this discussion because it concerns each and every one of us. For those who think this is only an issue between one province and the federal government, they are mistaken. This issue concerns every single Canadian. The government has put the official opposition and others who want to support it in a very difficult position by treating the committee with such disrespect.
I get the feeling that the government is reacting. We questioned the timing of Bill C-20. It appears to me even more so after the committee hearing that the government is knee-jerk reacting to a situation and for its own agenda it chose to pick this point in time to throw the bill on the table, limit discussion and hope it quickly gets through and no one will even notice it. It is very similar to the knee-jerk reaction the government had after the 1995 referendum.
Does anyone in the House remember the government's Motion No. 26? No, because it zipped through here so quickly. It is the one that recognized distinct society. How about Bill C-110? Does anyone here remember that bill? No, because it zipped through the House so quickly. It is the one that gave regional areas in the country a veto. Did Canadians get a chance to debate, to discuss, to give any attention to those issue? Absolutely not. There was not even a committee formed to discuss those very important issues.
Here we are one more time. The government is throwing in a bill at an inappropriate time to talk about an issue that it does not want to talk about with anybody other than a handful of its own people who agree with it. Canadians deserve more than that. Canadians deserve something that is much better and something that is much more democratic.
We agree with the principle and the concept of the bill. As has been said by my hon. colleagues, the official opposition brought up the issue of clarity five years ago, the need to be clear about what it means to Canada to have one of its provinces secede. We brought up the issue that there has to be clarity on what numbers are required. Whether it is 50% plus one, 65% or 75%, we have to be very clear about what the measurement is. Does the bill do it? Not really. It does not outline what a clear question is going to be and it certainly does not clearly outline what number is required.
Government members seem to take exception when we argue that 50% plus one is the accepted line. There have been two referendums on the separation of Quebec and on both occasions it was 50% plus one.
I remind the government that if the Liberals have a problem with 50% plus one, they should ask the person who wrote the Constitution Act, 1982, the repatriation of the BNA act, an individual who happens to have sat on that side of the House, why the number was not changed when there was an opportunity to do so. If 50% plus one is not acceptable, why did they not change it when they had the opportunity to do so? Why did they not state the number that would be required? The constitution is silent on this issue. There is no mention of any other number. The accepted majority around the world is 50% plus one. If the government does not like that, then it should have taken the opportunity to change it when it had the chance in 1982.
I want to go back to the issue of travelling and communicating with Canadians. I had the opportunity to participate in the British Columbia unity debate and the British Columbia unity panel. The Government of British Columbia took it upon itself when we were dealing with the Calgary declaration, the question of unity and of trying to keep the country together, to communicate with the people of its province. It did not worry about time. It did not worry about costs. It worried about communicating with the people so that the people understood what the issues were and they had a chance to give their opinion.
I took part in that and travelled to every corner of British Columbia. I listened to the people of British Columbia, not the politicians and the business community but a collection of all of those people. It gave me a much greater understanding of what being a Canadian means to each and every one of us and how important that issue is to Canadians.
We do a great disservice when we eliminate Canadians from the process that is happening today. We do not gain anything by excluding Canadians from the dialogue that is taking place. I understand even the people who are most interested in it cannot gather themselves quickly enough to appear before the committee. It is understandable when they are given one day, 24 hours notice.
This is not the kind of subject matter on which somebody can get a phone call the night before to appear before a committee the next morning. How do we expect the Canadian public to participate in this process if the people who are most interested in it cannot be prepared to speak?
I think the government has a hidden agenda and I am not sure what it is. I am not sure why the Liberals are afraid to talk to Canadians on this issue. If they really want support and do not want to face another 1995 situation where they are on one side and everybody else is on the other, if they lose the opportunity to have this communication with Canadians and understand what Canadians are feeling, then they are not going to be ready when the time comes.
The government owes it to Canadians to open up the committee process to travel and hear what Canadians have to say and how they feel. The government owes it to Canadians to give it the time that is required. I am not sure why the Liberals think it has to be finished in seven days. They sat on it for two months. This bill was introduced two months ago and a good deal of travel could have been done in that period of time. I do not know why they think they have only seven days to get it through the House. The government has used time allocation to limit debate in the House and now the committee is being shut down. Limitations are being put on the committee. I have been on six different committees and I have never seen this kind of abuse of democracy and parliamentary process in my life.