Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Honoré—Mercier for his interest in local and regional news throughout Quebec. In the Quebec City and Chaudière-Appalaches regions, TQS offers a much appreciated newscast.
The CRTC is a quasi-judicial tribunal. Of course, it may be tempting sometimes for Parliament or the government to interfere. We know however that, in 1994, a former Liberal minister interfered with the CRTC's decision-making process and had to resign. On that subject, the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien used to say that a minister must not interfere with or exert any kind of pressure on independent agencies such as the CRTC. It is as if the Minister of Justice dictated to the Supreme Court what its decisions should be.
With that in mind, I would like to ask a question of my colleague. Seeing that the minister, the government and Parliament must respect the CRTC's independence, how does he see the role of Parliament and of the government in order to avoid any interference on their part with an independent agency?