Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised at the speech made by the hon. member for Laval, who is a new member of this House, because I have been hearing the same thing for 12 years in this House. For 12 years, all the members of the Bloc Québécois have been saying the same thing on this subject, that it comes under provincial jurisdiction.
But we are well aware that in their opinion, Canada should not exist, and the departments that have anything to do with Quebec should not exist either.
There was a report by a House of Commons committee which proposed, after careful analysis, that the two departments should be split. There was a minority report, based on the same argument we keep hearing in this House, the one about provincial jurisdiction.
Nevertheless, there was a department to look after Canadian citizens from birth to death, from the beginning of their lives to the end. This department existed. Therefore, this bill had to follow up on the committee's recommendations. That is what we are doing today in the House. We are not talking about a social engineering project like the Bloc proposes.
Moreover, since this department was created, we have experienced very good collaboration with the federalist government in Quebec. Therefore, we will continue to work together on the areas in this department's portfolio, bearing in mind the people it serves. It is a form of collaboration, after all. We must work together with our provincial colleagues, with all the non-governmental organizations and with all the volunteers. That is what we are trying to do with this bill, to give legal form to something that already existed and has now been split into two parts.
I have a question for the new member, for whom I most certainly have great respect. I am familiar with her commitment to voluntary and non-governmental organizations. With regard to the programs under this department, should we not have such cooperation with the provincial government, to ensure that, especially where Quebec is doing good things, we can provide the resources? Should we not continue to collaborate? That is my question for the hon. member.