Mr. Speaker, last week the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs stated that the leader of my party and the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party were promoting blackmail by western separatists.
I have to assume that the minister's words mean that he feels that it is never acceptable for any Canadian from any region to suggest that their region could get a better deal from Ottawa by negotiating with a knife at the throat. I applaud that sentiment. That is why our leader has said “any discussion of separatism is absolutely untenable”.
Now we learn from the minister that he will not be going to Alberta during his upcoming tour. How will this exclusion of Albertans make them feel more included?