Mr. Speaker, I have two points I would like to make.
The first is that while the pressure that was applied to the former attorney general this past autumn may have not crossed the line of the Criminal Code as she has indicated, it certainly is clear that it crossed a line of a much higher order and that is the line as it is embodied in our constitutional law, both written in the Constitution Acts of this country and the constitutional law as it is outlined in the unwritten conventions that govern the division of powers and the rule of law in this country. It is clear that this higher law was contravened over the course of the autumn as this relentless, sustained and prolonged pressure was put on the former attorney general.
The second quick point I want to make is that we in the House, on all sides, care about Canadian companies and care about Canadian jobs whether they are in Quebec or in Alberta. That is not the issue here at hand. The issue here at hand concerns the fundamental constitutional principles that govern this country. If we diminish those principles like the rule of law, we also diminish the other principles and conventions in the Constitution, principles that protect minorities in this country, principles that protect the French fact in this country, principles that protect French language minority rights in the rest of Canada and the rights of Francophones in the province of Quebec. That is why the issue in front of us is so serious and so great.