Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his fine speech, but I noticed that he did not really talk about Quebeckers. Rather, he talked about the French-Canadian nation. Now, I believe in this French-Canadian nation, because I am part of it, and I must point out that the French-Canadian nation does not end at the border between Ontario and Quebec. It was our ancestors who discovered a large portion of this country that is Canada. In fact, the first Canadians were French inhabitants. It was Aboriginals who called them Canadians.
Therefore, when he uses the term Québécois, is he speaking of those first francophone settlers? If that is the case, where do I fit? I have the same ancestors as they do. By happenstance, maybe a few hundred years ago mine chose to move on and help build the country we call Canada. I still speak French. I still live as a French person. French is still my first language.
There are almost nine million Canadians who share what I have, but unfortunately, when the term Québécois is used, it does not include me. Nor does it include anybody else outside of Quebec. What is the definition of Québécois and why should we suddenly think of them as a nation? There is no real definition of it. Are we not just playing games to try to gain votes?