Mr. Speaker, this file is indeed a very concrete example of the defence of Quebec's interests. Today, I did not see any Liberal member from Quebec rise in this House to say that Quebec's jurisdiction must be respected. I did not see any of them remind the House that in 1992, the government of Robert Bourassa, who was a federalist Liberal premier, had adopted a position saying that the federal government had no business getting into that area.
We already occupy our area of jurisdiction. We are doing it satisfactorily, we are showing the way, and this must continue. When the member asks me if we are not getting tired of this whole business, I can tell him that I do not believe we will ever get tired as long as Quebec's rights and positions are not being respected, especially when we are at the vanguard. It was true before in the area of the environment and it is still true.
It is also true in the area of social policies in terms of, for instance, the $5 a day daycare program, which is recognized across Canada as an extraordinary initiative. The Minister of Human Resources Development said of that program that it was not necessary to ask Quebec for any further assessment or reports since it is a success. I believe this same attitude should apply when it comes to the environment, but this is not reflected in this bill.
Instead, it leaves a certain discretion to the federal Minister of the Environment who, in the end, could use it not to allow for the development of better sustainable development projects, but to hamper concrete sustainable development projects. Earlier, I gave the example of a hydro dam. The same question could be raised with respect to any other kind of development, especially in the area of transportation.
For instance, we are being told that when a project has the slightest impact on an another province, the process will be duplicated. So this might involve the whole border area.
Here is a concrete example. If in my own constituency of Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, a new industry could be the subject of an environmental impact assessment concerning pollution, for example, I would consider it ill-advised of the federal government to insist, in compliance with this clause, on a second impact assessment study after the Province of Quebec has done its own. When Quebec does the study, it will clearly take into account the global environmental impact of the project. The assessment will not stop—nor could it—at the Quebec border.
Therefore, all conditions of development projects must be taken into account, but an effort must be made to avoid duplication. If there is one thing that federalists and sovereignists in Quebec have in common, it is their opposition to the sort of duplication that is being imposed by the federal government and that the present Liberal leadership contenders want to impose on us, in education for example. I think the fight will go on as long as the federal government does not abandon this approach.