Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank my colleague for her question.
Yes, indeed, the Conservatives’ attitude is not only disdainful of the intelligence of the Quebec electorate, but also it challenges the legitimacy of the sovereignist parties’ existence. Whether in Quebec City or here in Ottawa, we derive our legitimacy from the democratic process, not from a decision by the Prime Minister of Canada. So when Quebeckers send members of the Bloc Québécois to Ottawa, we are entitled to speak on their behalf, like any other member here.
This is not the first time the Minister of Labour has cast doubt on the legitimacy of our presence here. To my mind, this attitude is not only disdainful, but also anti-democratic. Yesterday we saw that the example came from above when we heard the comments made by the Conservative Prime Minister.
So, yes, I do not think that we have heard the end of the story. Unlike what the Prime Minister may have thought yesterday, his little blackmail game is going to have entirely the opposite effect, I can assure you. I have been in touch with some of my fellow citizens and they are up in arms. They will not be told what to do. Now that they have been told they have to vote federalist, a lot of them will choose to vote otherwise, I can assure you. When I say “otherwise,” I mean for the sovereignist parties. As you know we have two in Quebec. So this will have the opposite effect of the one he thought.
To my mind, going with 50% of natural resources is a poor compromise. It is as if there were a fork in the road ahead and, in the decision as to which direction to take, they headed right for the middle. That is exactly what they have done, but by shortchanging Quebeckers the equivalent of $2 billion this year.
I spoke of the $66 billion in direct subsidies. Of this amount, at least $10 billion came from the pockets of Quebec taxpayers. That they should be deprived in the end of developing these natural resources, which they paid for, is totally unfair in my opinion and we will continue the battle so that 100% of the revenue from natural resources is included in the equalization formula.
As they used to say when I was young: this is just the beginning, let us keep up the fight.