Mr. Speaker, we understand of course that we are witnessing an historic act today with this recognition of the Québécois as a nation within a united Canada, given the past failure of the Meech Lake accord and given that everything has been extremely difficult in the last 15 years.
All of that will ultimately be expressed in what we expect to see: that we will eventually have more constitutional negotiations, and one day Quebec can be brought back into the Constitution with honour and enthusiasm, as the former prime minister, Mr. Mulroney, expressed it.
Given that our Prime Minister has put this motion before the House and that we also recognize—or allow—Quebec’s presence at UNESCO, or given our desire to continue to establish limits on the federal spending power in areas under provincial jurisdiction, I believe that an effort is now being made. What we do today is important, but we must not make assumptions about when those negotiations will take place; certainly the circumstances must be right for negotiations to be initiated.
If this motion had been the opposite, if the motion had been: That this House recognize that English Canada forms a nation within a united Canada, everyone in this House would have risen and said that this is obvious, because it was with us when this country was founded. The same is true for us. This is recognition of what we are, and this evening we will take this great step, do this historic thing, together, when we vote at 8 o’clock.