Mr. Speaker, it is with some emotion, and understandably so, that I address this House for the very first time. After ten years of militant action in favour of sovereignty, I finally have a chance to pursue my action as an elected representative.
First of all, I would like to thank the voters in the great and beautiful riding of Charlesbourg who have chosen me to represent them. I was born and raised in Charlesbourg and I still live there. It is a privilege for me to work for the people of Charlesbourg.
Great people have spoken in this House. One who comes to mind is a man who was first elected to this place and, later in his political career, went on to become the premier of Quebec. I am referring to Honoré Mercier.
Honoré Mercier went down in Quebec history as a man who asked Quebecers to set their partisan divisions aside. People rallied around him and his national party with the deepest conviction.
At the unveiling of the Cartier-Brébeuf monument in Quebec City, in 1889, he made a famous utterance: “Let us stop fighting among brothers and unite”.
A century later, the Bloc Quebecois has answered his call. While advocating a sovereign Quebec, the Bloc Quebecois is asking all Quebecers, whether they are federalists or sovereignists, Socialists, Liberals, Conservatives, ADQ or PQ supporters, to rally around and join forces to fight for the democratic rights of Quebeckers as well as for their institutions and their freedom to decide their future.
In the early 19th century, Louis-Joseph Papineau and the Patriot movement fought for democracy and for the rights of those who were called Canadians at the time and are now known as Quebeckers. Papineau fought to ensure that his people, and not some unelected individuals, decide the future.
It is sad, a shame really, to see this struggle we thought was over resurface today. Once again, attempts are being made to take away from Quebeckers the right to democratically decide their future and ask an unelected body, namely the Supreme Court of Canada in this instance, to decide for them.
The point of view that the future of a nation should be decided by the people and not by elected officials was shared by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson said “I can think of no safer depository for the ultimate powers of society than in the people themselves”.
I expect my colleagues from the Reform Party to agree with this statement as it is written in the conference room at their party's headquarters in Calgary.
We the sovereignists are the defenders of democracy in Quebec. Our goal is to ensure that Quebeckers have the right to decide their own future. That future is one that we are confident will be as a sovereign and proud country, dealing as an equal with its friend and neighbour, Canada.
The Bloc is back.
Now, let ask ourselves if it is possible to reconcile justice and escalation. Let me use a practical example.
Imagine you have a dispute with a neighbour and that neighbour wants to have a third party settle the issue. It goes without saying that you would never accept that third party to be someone appointed and paid by your neighbour. Moreover, should the decision be based on a contract which you have always refused to sign, you would have another reason to object.
Yet, this is precisely what this government is attempting to do. Supreme Court judges are appointed by the federal government. They are paid by the federal government and, moreover, they will interpret a document that every Quebec government has refused to sign.
Is this what they call justice, Mr. Speaker? Not I. Justice will be done when Quebeckers are free to decide, and they will.
The carelessness of the current federal government is obvious in the throne speech. There is nothing good in it for Quebec. The unemployment level for my generation is tragic. Some even refer to us as generation x . Still, there is absolutely nothing in the throne speech to solve this most urgent problem.
The fight against the deficit was conducted at the expense of the poor, including young people, and they will not forget, believe me.
As for the part of the speech entitled “Building Safer Communities”, it hides another attempt by the federal government to encroach on areas of provincial jurisdiction. Once again, the federal government is acting like a bull in a china shop. But there is more.
The $30 million program to fight crime is a rehash. It was already public news on December 12, 1996, when the Globe and Mail published an article on it, on page A16 for those who want to go back and read it. There is nothing new. This is further evidence of this government's total lack of imagination.
Still in that same part of the speech, I am pleased to see that the government decided to develop alternatives to imprisonment for non-violent, low-risk offenders. The government has finally listened to the Bloc Quebecois, which has always stressed the importance of rehabilitation. The Liberal government is once again proving the Bloc Quebecois right.
Let me conclude by saying it is an honour for me to be here. I am convinced that this 36th Parliament will go down in history. Indeed, I will be able to tell my children that I was part of the last group of Quebec MPs elected to the House of Commons.