Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.
Yes, there are people in Quebec who are victims of racism and discrimination of all kinds, such as discrimination against women or ageism. There are all sorts of discrimination and there is racism. We have seen it. We deplored recent tragic events. I am thinking about the indigenous woman in Joliette who was hospitalized. We deplore that incident and we are working to address it.
The Government of Quebec is working on these issues. We are aware of that. However, once again, there is no consensus on this topic. The Government of Quebec did not acknowledge the expression “systemic racism” as something that pervades Quebec institutions. While some talk about institutionalized racism and others of individual racism, no one talks about the racism of the institution.
Who is wrong, who is right, I cannot say. I am not saying that it does not exist. I am saying that there is no consensus. I understand that the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse has an opinion on this. The party in power in Quebec has an opinion and the opposition parties have other opinions.
It is the same thing here in Ottawa. The parties do not agree on this. Some parties have a different opinion and some individuals within the parties may not agree with the majority opinion of their party.
Before introducing such a complex notion into legislation, we must hear from expert witnesses and ensure that we are all saying the same thing and that we all understand the expression the same way.