Mr. Speaker, my colleague talked about the importance of respecting provincial jurisdictions. I completely agree, gone are the days of the federal government sticking its nose in provincial business and imposing programs without consultation or collaoperation.
However, in many of his examples, it seems there was agreement with the Government of Quebec. My colleague will agree, I hope, that a country is more than the division of federal-provincial jurisdictions and that it is built on collaboration and consultation.
Something puzzles me about his comments. Given his sensitiveness toward provincial jurisdictions, how does he explain his support for the softwood lumber agreement, in which the federal government is requiring the provinces to consult a foreign government, in Washington, on truly provincial forestry policies? This puzzles me somewhat, given the Bloc's sensitiveness on this issue.
Given the comments made this afternoon, how could the members of the Bloc Québécois have supported this agreement—a very bad one at that—which gives up Canadian sovereignty in an area of provincial jurisdiction?