Mr. Chair, I will tell the minister and her colleagues that Quebec was part of North America long before 1867, when the Dominion of Canada was created. Canada became a sovereign nation in 1931 with the Statute of Westminster. Still, even though Quebec was part of Canada, that did not prevent the provinces, with the federal government's approval, from abolishing our schools, abolishing our services and even going so far as to try and close the Montfort Hospital. This government had a sister party in Ontario, the party of Mike Harris, who wanted to close the only French-language hospital west of Quebec, a hospital that was working well and providing excellent service for the community.
Canada's francophonie needs to understand this: for Quebeckers and all francophones, in order to combat the rampant assimilation that has been under way since 1951, the only thing that has not yet been tried is the creation of a French-language country neighbouring Canada within North America.
I would like to ask the minister another question. Does she agree with the Commissioner of Official Languages, who says that in abolishing the court challenges program, the government did not take into account the needs of minority communities, as the Official Languages Act requires?