Mr. Speaker, it is sad that we even have to debate this bill. In my view it is quite simple and straightforward. It should have gone through the House without any debate at all.
This is a straightforward bill that acknowledges the right of the people to decide. All this bill does is to say that in this partnership that we are in, if one of the partners wants to leave and go on its own, it is important to at least discuss the partnership. That is what this bill is all about.
There has been more than one occasion of this so far. Two or three times in a row when asked to vote on the whole question of whether or not they want to remain a part of Canada, the people have decided they want to remain as part of Canada. The question is when is this debate going to end?
None of my colleagues in the Bloc Quebecois have stood up to tell us when enough is enough. When would the separatists say enough is enough? They lost the first time. They lost the second time. They lost the third time. And they will lose again for as long as we have a country and a nation. We will continue to have a nation for the next 10,000 years, just as we have had for the past 10,000 years.
The bottom line is that the Supreme Court of Canada has rendered a ruling. Even the premier of Quebec, Mr. Bouchard, and others have clearly applauded and clearly stated that they want the federal government to obey the decision of the court. We are responding to what Mr. Bouchard stated in the early days of when the judgment came down. That is that we have to have clear rules and everybody has a right to play as long as we know what the rules of the game are.
We are saying that at the federal level in order for us to decide whether or not we are going to participate in the breakup of this partnership, two things are absolutely unequivocal.
First, there should be a clear question that is straightforward with no monkeying around and no ups and downs. The people have to be asked a very clear question. That is fair and none of my colleagues will dispute that.
Second, there has to be an absolute majority, a clear majority. I do not think any one of my colleagues would object to that. If we were to ask a question of the people and have a clear answer to it, then let us sit down and talk. That is what the government is doing, unlike my colleagues opposite who are trying to break up one of the best countries on earth. It is the best country on earth. It is not just me and my colleagues in the House of Commons who say that. Every single person in the country knows that this is the greatest country on earth.