Mr. Speaker, it is my duty to join the debate on the motion before the House moved by the hon. member for Joliette. It is a duty because I am a true Quebecker. My roots and those of my children are in Quebec, and those of an entire future generation will be as well.
This motion makes me very worried about our future as full-fledged Quebeckers within a strong, prosperous and united Canada, where life is good.
Today, I would like to direct hon. members' attention to a specific point in the motion where the hon. member for Joliette seems to suggest that we Quebeckers are not being considered within Canada. He might as well be saying we are ghosts and we do not count. That disappoints me greatly because I do feel as though I exist within Canada, as many of us do. We Quebeckers are vibrant, dynamic and focused on the future.
In speaking of Quebec, the hon. member for Joliette states that “its status as a nation still has not been recognized in the Canadian Constitution”. The hon. member seems to be insinuating that the absence of such recognition proves that federalism cannot be renewed and that the interests of Quebec are not well served within Canada. I think this observation is totally false, and I would like to take the few minutes allotted to me to prove it.
No one will be surprised to hear me say that the Bloc's motion was predictable. It is as predictable as the tulips blooming in our nation's capital in spring. I am surprised, however, to see a sovereignist party use the Meech Lake accord as a reference in discussing constitutional reform when the sovereignist movement was against the accord in 1990.
In fact, it was in the wake of Meech that the Bloc was born. That is another 20th anniversary that will not go unnoticed. This interim party, which was to pave the way for Quebec's sovereignty, has since become permanent. But that is neither here nor there.
The member for Joliette's party does not agree with our approach to federalism. The other opposition parties may oppose it too, but their ultimate goal is different from the Bloc's. We feel very strongly that our country works well, that we are steering it in the right direction and that Quebec both contributes to it and benefits from it. For very clear reasons, the Bloc has a different view.
I would still like to thank the member for his initiative, because it allows me to underscore the many benefits Quebec enjoys within the Canadian federation. Reality is very different from the grim picture painted by the member for Joliette. The facts show that Quebec as a society is developing, thriving and moving forward within Canada, and that is no coincidence.
Within Canada, Quebec has its own education system, its own Civil Code and its own Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. Quebec collects its own personal and corporate income taxes. It chooses its immigrants and is active on the world scene. In certain areas, it can sign agreements with foreign governments. It has created unique institutions, like Hydro-Québec, Télé-Québec, the Régie des rentes, the Caisse de dépôt et placement, the Société générale de financement and many others. It has established its own student financial assistance program. It has passed laws that allow it to protect and promote the French language and its cultural identity. In all these areas, Quebec has all the necessary latitude to make choices that reflect its values and interests.
Quebec covers a huge territory and promotes a unique culture, partly because of its French character. Its economy is diversified and is based on many natural resources. As a member of the Canadian federation, it has become a world leader in the areas of business, science and technology. It is also a leader in the aerospace, agri-food, multimedia, computer services, software and telecommunications sectors.
Thanks to Quebeckers' dynamic approach and sense of entrepreneurship, Quebec played a key role in developing the North American Free Trade Agreement, in opening the American market to Canadian products, and now in negotiating a free trade agreement between Canada and the European Union, which would be the largest free trade agreement signed in Canadian history.
Quebec controls most of the economic and social levers to ensure its development. The Quebec government has many powers in the health, education, culture and social services sectors. It also has more influence than some other provinces in areas such as immigration, taxation and international relations. Quebeckers are attached to the same universal values of tolerance, compassion, solidarity and respect for differences than other Canadians.
The Quebec and Canadian identities are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they complement each other. Canada is envied by many other countries because of its standard of living and quality of life. Like Canadians from the other provinces and territories, Quebeckers benefit from these assets and enjoy enviable prosperity. The picture I just painted is not that of a poor, isolated society incapable of ensuring its prosperity, development and influence.
What the member for Joliette and his colleagues refuse to see is that Quebec is capable of being itself within Canada and of controlling its future without resorting to separation. Quebeckers have been able to protect and promote their identity within Canada by creating policies and institutions, both at the federal and provincial levels, that ensure the preservation and thriving of their culture and language.
Over the years, Canada has been able to accommodate Quebec's difference, thus allowing the province to thrive within the federation. The Quebec government plays a major role in the development of the Canadian Francophonie and participates actively, along with the Government of Canada, to the Francophonie's initiatives, while also voicing its views within the Canadian delegation at international forums, such as UNESCO.
A motion stating that Quebeckers form a nation within a united Canada was adopted in the House of Commons in November 2006, with the support of the Bloc Québécois. What the Bloc is implying with this motion is that without constitutional recognition as a nation, Quebec cannot develop, thrive and achieve its legitimate goals. Nothing could be further from the truth.
It seems to me doubly simplistic to cast Quebec as a community that cannot develop in all areas of human activity and whose future prospects depend on the labels the Bloc is trying to pin on it through a motion debated in the House of Commons. The truth is that Quebec is already taking charge of its own development within Canada and reaping the benefits of Canadian federalism, while making an outstanding contribution to the country's development and heritage. I would like to talk about this last point for a moment.
Quebec's contribution to Canada's identity derives mainly from three elements: the predominance of French, Quebec's unique culture and its civil law tradition. These unique and original features of Quebec are part and parcel of the heritage of all Canadians. Our open federalism not only recognizes this fact, it uses the strengths that each province and territory brings to our federation.
While most Quebeckers are rightly proud of their identity as Quebeckers, they are no less proud of their Canadian identity. What they want and what most Canadians want is for their governments to work for the common good and, through their actions, create a Canada-wide partnership based on solidarity and respect for our diversity.
We have worked very hard to see to it that Canada works well by emphasizing consultation and collaboration among all levels of government, which is what our fellow citizens want.
We are making progress, and our relations with our partners are proving successful in many areas. We are taking real steps to meet the ever-changing needs of Canadians in all parts of the country.
In the specific case of Quebec, we have already acted on our desire to highlight Quebec's unique position with Canada by reaching an agreement on its role in UNESCO and supporting the festivities to mark Quebec City's 400th anniversary.
This contribution was made possible by the leadership of my colleague, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and minister responsible for the Quebec City region, and the co-operation among the three levels of government throughout the festivities.
We know that Quebec’s international activities did not begin yesterday. In La Francophonie, Quebec has always worked to maintain special ties with its international partners who share the use of French: 105 million francophones spread over five continents.
The Government of Quebec has played a decisive role not only in creating and developing francophone institutions, but also in defining their role and carrying out their multilateral activities.
The agreement it signed with the Government of Canada on May 5, 2006 means that the government of Quebec is represented fully and in accordance with its wishes as part of the Canadian delegation for the proceedings, meetings and conferences of UNESCO.
That agreement not only shows that the present government is meeting its commitments to Quebec, it also highlights the fact that open federalism produces tangible results.
Examples of those tangible results are the recognition of the Quebec nation, Quebec’s role in UNESCO and the restoration of fiscal balance.
On that last point, the Bloc had no option but to vote for the 2007 budget, which restored fiscal balance in the federation, since it was a demand that had been made by Quebeckers.
Our government, like a majority of Quebeckers, holds the deep conviction that the development, vitality, progress and prosperity of Quebec society are more secure within the Canadian federation than in the political separation advocated by the Bloc, the hypothetical benefits of which have never been proven, more than 40 years after the founding of the Quebec sovereignist movement.
Quebeckers have to understand that whatever form the recognition of their uniqueness might take within the framework of the Canadian federation, the Bloc will always oppose it, firmly, resolutely and inevitably, because that is the reason for its existence.
But Quebeckers understand, above all, that their interests do not lie in isolation, semantics and symbolism. Contrary to what the Bloc says, it is not in spite of Canada that Quebec has become a strong society, rich in its diversity and looking to the future. Our federation makes it possible for Quebeckers to be themselves in our country, which is also their country, just as it does Newfoundlanders, Ontarians or Albertans.
Quebeckers know who they are. They know they participated in the founding of Canada and they have helped to shape this country, in all its greatness.
They know they have protected their language and their culture, while promoting their values and their interests within Canada. And they know they can be both Canadians and Quebeckers, and they do not need to choose between the two, as the Bloc would like to persuade them to do.
I would now like to return to one of the points I addressed earlier, which is, to my mind, the greatest advantage our formula for government offers to our partners in the federation, namely that federalism can adapt to modern challenges. Federalism is in fact one of the political structures best adapted to meet the modern challenges facing societies today.
The Canadian political and economic union, Canada’s significant influence on the international scene, its reputation as a solid creditor on the international markets, its quality of life—