Madam Speaker, first I would like to salute and congratulate my colleague from Jonquière for her excellent speech which was right on the mark and probably very convincing for those who are listening to us.
I would like to ask her what, in her opinion, is behind the federal government's action, something which is not new as we know. This is the second or third time, I believe, that Bloc Quebecois members have to speak up on this matter, quite efficiently I might add. This is the second or third time we are preventing the government from going ahead, and rightly so.
This is part of the federal government strategy—let us not be afraid to call it that—to be firmly entrenched in Canada. We are aware of its recent intervention on young offenders, and prior to that its intervention in the area of privacy, its intervention through the millennium scholarships, in fact in every area where the Quebec government in its wisdom and efficiency happened to have programs which were and are working well.
They might not be working as well today because the federal government imposes its own vision, even if it's not an area under its jurisdiction, with money if it takes money or through its legislative power if it's what it takes.
I would like to know if my colleague from Jonquière sees things the same way I do. What is to happen to us as a people knowing that the social union, probably the cornerstone of the federal strategy, does not recognize in any way the special status of the Quebec people and where Quebec is recognized as a province just like any other?
I invite my colleague to comment on the direction this process is taking us and if the Quebec people really does exist and if it has a say in those different areas?