Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Laurentides—Labelle for having introduced Bill C-269.
It gives me great pleasure to rise in the House and speak to the bill. I am wondering, by way of background, why the Prime Minister is afraid to go to Finland to meet his EU counterparts. It might be that in 1997 the Prime Minister referred to our nation as a failed northern European welfare state. It might be that he called us, we maritimers, having a culture of defeat.
However, the lessons of the EU and, in particular--