Mr. Chair, my colleague from Saint-Maurice—Champlain raised a very important point when he said that in its negotiations, the Canadian government should listen to what the provinces and municipalities are calling for. I will quote a statement made by the Minister of International Trade that was published in the Canadian Press on August 20 and that my colleague knows well since he is the international trade critic. It is recent; we were starting to talk about negotiations. He had a rather haughty and dismissive attitude towards the provinces and Quebec.
With each round, the situation is different. Sometimes one province drags its feet and another is very ambitious, and vice versa. There is no sustained level of participation from the provinces, but there could be an improvement in some respects.
Regarding Quebec he said:
It is not so much a matter of blocking significant issues as it is a matter of tone and lack of ambition.
Not the greatest thing to hear from the Minister of International Trade. We are happy that Quebec is participating in the negotiations, but we know that Quebec often ends up out in the hall and not at the negotiating or decision-making table. For the good of the people of Quebec, I wonder if the member thinks it would not be better for Quebec to be there as a country, as a negotiator, so that it can defend its own interests instead of hearing the minister say such things about Quebec.