Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Joliette for his question and, particularly, for remembering the full name of my riding, like you, Madam Speaker; what a performance.
More seriously, indeed, with regard to the issue of the Canada-wide securities commission and the fact that the federal government is saying that membership would be voluntary, this is strangely reminiscent of how the federal government has operated in recent years, rolling over everything in its way. It is the same thing with the social union.
But things have been different here in the last 10 years or so. Before, when there was a debate in the House of Commons, people would limit their comments to the potential benefits of adopting this kind of behaviour, and not get into whether it was really our responsibility. Since the Bloc Quebecois has been here, we have been asking questions and discussing them publicly.
I believe that, on the issue of the securities commission, if the Bloc Quebecois had not been here for several years to provide the momentum and follow Quebec's position in this sector, perhaps the securities commission would already exist today.
But we must keep in mind that the federal government is constantly launching the attack, constantly introducing new initiatives. This is why we are waiting to make a final decision on this bill.
In the absence of a clear signal on the part of the federal government that the other improvements in the bill are accompanied by a respect for Quebec's jurisdiction, the Bloc Quebecois will not vote in favour of the bill, clearly showing its opposition to such an encroachment on Quebec's jurisdiction.
That being said, we have contributed to other improvements because we thought it was the right thing to do. We do not believe in legislation based on a worst case scenario; we believe it is important to have the best legislation possible providing the best economic framework possible. Our interesting suggestions were taken into account and we are very happy about that.
One of the reasons we will delay our final assessment is the current behaviour of the federal government in several files. A case in point, which I will not belabour, is the issue of the transfer of the gasoline tax to the municipalities. That is another example of a pan-Canadian vision of things shared for the most part by the prime minister in waiting, the member for LaSalle—Émard. His goal is very clearly to keep on denying the reality of what Quebec is.
I would rather we recognize that the various securities commissions across Canada already have a mandate, that they have a jurisdiction and that they are able to get along. If they need a federal interlocutor at the table as a witness to listen and give additional information on the legislation, or if we want to amend the Criminal Code, should we not consider the advice of each provincial securities commission and include it in the bill?
Indeed I hope they will come before the committee and say that, given their point of view and the responsibility they have under the Constitution, they will help produce legislation, under the Criminal Code—a federal jurisdiction—which will respect the jurisdiction of the provinces over securities commissions.
As a consequence, the Bloc Quebecois' contribution has been to put forward the best possible amendments to the bill. Let us hope that the federal government will listen to our demand, which would allow us to vote for the bill at third reading, provided the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces is respected.