Mr. Speaker, I did not intend to speak, but the hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie was so inspiring that I want to raise two or three important points.
I feel like I am learning more about how the sovereign country of Quebec should behave in the future, especially when it comes to the protection of cultural property and international commitments. We should use today's debate to determine the responsibility of the country that Quebec will become in the coming years.
The other point involves the example of how the Government of Canada is currently shirking its responsibilities toward heritage lighthouses. I had the opportunity to speak on this matter.
The hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie did indeed bring up the example of the Kyoto protocol, which we signed. However, it is one thing to talk about it and another to take action. We went through the process of writing up and signing a plan and formally promising action, but there seems to something missing in the application of said protocol.
As far as the heritage lighthouses are concerned, it is all well and good to say that cultural property must be protected, but, unfortunately, what we are seeing is quite the opposite. These cultural properties, these heritage lighthouses, have been so neglected that now we have to spend tens of millions of dollars simply to restore them. Then we could enjoy a cultural heritage property and present it as another tourist attraction, namely in my region.
I simply want to say to the House, to the hon. members who are currently listening and to those watching us on television that the speech by the hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie was inspiring in many ways. His contribution today is a valuable one and allows us to look at the discussions we have here in a different way.