Mr. Speaker, this week, negotiations for a Canada-EU economic partnership began. This agreement, which goes beyond the typical characteristics of a free trade agreement, would have a greater impact on Quebec's areas of jurisdiction, including the mobility of labour and the question of procurement.
While Quebec is taking part in the negotiations, it is because Brussels, the EU capital, insisted, and not Ottawa. This regrettable fact, which can only suggest that this government does not understand Quebec's role, leads us to believe that Brussels understands what it means to respect jurisdictions better than some members of the federal government.
In the context of these negotiations, Quebec must be at the negotiating table, because, for one thing, the matters at issue come under Quebec's jurisdiction. The Bloc Québécois will ensure that Quebec plays more than a minor role and that it gets a real seat, not an ejection seat, as it had with UNESCO.