Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois and I have an infinite respect for all those Canadians from the French parts of Canada, who made their contribution in building the country for French and English Canadians.
Nevertheless, my colleague will understand what others understood before, including Daniel Johnson senior. He was the first one to ask for equality or independence, even though his grandfather was Irish and did not speak French. He understood that Quebec would be the homeland — such was the expression used at the time — of French Canadians.
We have nothing against French Canadians who settled in other parts of Canada. To the contrary, we recognize their accomplishments. But we cannot use their presence in the rest of Canada as an excuse to deny the people of Quebec, a multi-ethnic nation, the right to claim its place in history, alongside Canadians and Americans.