Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's presentation. I sit on the finance committee with him and he is always well-prepared and well-spoken, and I normally disagree with him.
He began his discussion today talking about the motion before us, a motion from the official opposition, but then went on to other topics. I fundamentally disagree with him. For example, he talked about the need to have Bloc members in the House because they are the only ones defending Quebec's interests. That is absolutely not the case and is erroneous, in my opinion. We have a great team of members from Quebec on my side of the bench who do a great job in defending the rights and issues that affect Quebec directly.
I am a little confused by his presentation. I want to clarify something with the member as to where he was going. The budget states:
Fulfilling the Commitment to Respect the Offshore Accords
To respect the Offshore Accords, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador may continue to operate under the previous Equalization system until their existing offshore agreements expire. This fulfills and builds upon the Government’s commitment to respect the Offshore Accords and ensures that these provinces will continue to receive the full benefit that they are entitled to under the previous system. These provinces can permanently opt into the new Equalization system at any point in the future.
It is in writing in a number of spots. I know the member can answer this question because he is quite an intelligent young man. I could not tell, based on his presentation, whether the Bloc would actually be supporting what is in front of us, which I think is a disingenuous statement about where we stand with the offshore accords that have been signed.
The motion will go to a vote this evening. Could the Bloc member tell me whether the Bloc Party has decided to support the opposition motion today or oppose it?