Madam Speaker, I would like to begin with a statement made by a well-known politician, who said in 1992 that for a win by the yes side to be legitimate it must have at least 58% of the votes to take into account the votes of anglophones and allophones.
Before our friends opposite start criticizing this statement, I will tell them that it was made by none other than the present Deputy Premier of Quebec, Bernard Landry.
This statement should surprise no one in this House. In 1992 the referendum campaign on the Charlottetown accord was in full swing. The separatists were on the no side at that time and told anyone who would listen that a 50% plus one majority would not be enough. Why? Because, as Mr. Landry said, the votes of anglophones and allophones, which he already considered lost, had to be taken into account. According to him, a win by the yes side would have been justified in this case only if such a level of support was to be found among the francophone population.
This is not the first time we have the opportunity to ponder such statements which, members will admit, are somewhat cynical. To all intents and purposes, taking into account the votes of anglophones and allophones is tantamount to weighing the votes, meaning that the vote of a francophone is worth more than the vote of a Quebecer from a different cultural community.
Personally, I always believed that, from the moment they are granted Canadian citizenship, voters are all subject to the same rules and their votes all have the same political weight. To consider people according to their race, their language or their religion is to play a dangerous game with feelings that lead to intolerance.
This type of statement says a lot about the PQ's idea of democracy.
In the eyes of separatists, there will always be two kinds of Quebecers: the real ones, who are for the independence option, and the imposters, who consist, on the one hand, of the francophone group which rejects separation and, on the other, of Quebecers from all corners of the international community.
This is why they cannot identify with the independence project and refuse to listen to the siren call sent out with each passing referendum.
The bill before us, as its name indicates, seeks to clarify the rules that would guide the Government of Canada in its actions if a province proposed a secession project to its citizens. This bill is a necessity and that is why we are so determined to have it passed.
Statements such as those by Bernard Landry, which I have already cited, cannot fail to move those for whom democracy is truly important. In our view, it is unacceptable to say that 50% plus one is enough to separate, when a constitutional reform project would require, as Mr. Landry said, applying some sort of twisted logic, 58% of the vote.
This is a criticism levelled by separatists themselves. They criticize us for maintaining that the majority required for secession must be greater than that required to join a federation, to take one example.
In effect, that is our belief, and I will illustrate with an example that the separatists frequently trot out in support of their argument, the case of Newfoundland. In a nutshell, if 52% was good for Newfoundland, why is 50% plus one not enough for Quebec to secede?
Let us agree on one thing from the start. The two situations were very different. In 1949 Newfoundland was a colony of Great Britain. There was, so to speak, not the solid interdependence between Newfoundland and Great Britain that exists between Quebec and Canada. And so, Quebec's separation would be much more complex than was Newfoundland's joining Canada. The risks of injustice would therefore be much greater as well.
We must not confuse the 52% of Newfoundlanders already mentioned with the very great majority of those who voted in favour of breaking with the United Kingdom. In fact, the separatists never say that an initial referendum held on June 3, 1948 proposed three options to Newfoundlanders: extension of their dependence for an additional five years; independence without financial assistance from London or entry to the Canadian federation.
Barely 14% of the electorate voted to extend dependence. In other words, 86% of the electorate voted in favour of breaking colonial ties with London. That, it must be said, was quite clear.
Another referendum was then held on the two remaining options: independence without financial assistance from London or joining the Canadian Confederation. On July 22, 1948, 52% of Newfoundlanders chose one of the two radical changes—Canadian Confederation. Under the circumstances, the Canadian authorities decided to welcome Newfoundland and today still we know we made the right decision.
So, as we have just seen, the essential difference between Newfoundland in 1948 and the separatist option in Quebec today is that Newfoundland did not break up a country when it joined Canada. It terminated a temporary colonial link. Quebec's secession from Canada would break up Canada, permanently. This is one fundamental reason the same percentage cannot be sought in two such different cases.
Another reason has already been cited by a number of my colleagues on this side of the House—international precedent. Since 1945, in 13 cases of moves to independence in which a referendum was held, excluding colonial contexts, the average majority obtained was 92%. I did indeed say 92%. The lowest was 72%. This is a long way from the 50% that Messrs. Bouchard, Parizeau, Landry and company are so desperately clinging to.
Another reason I have not much time to spend on, but which precludes too quick a comparison between the cases of Newfoundland and Quebec: the questions put to Newfoundlanders were clear; those put to Quebecers in the last two referendums on sovereignty were not.
Quebecers are entitled to know that they will not lose Canada without clearly renouncing it. Secession could not be negotiated without the assurance that secession is really what Quebecers want. This is why the government must establish the rules to govern its conduct in order to ensure that Quebecers should have nothing less than a clear question to answer. Secession is unthinkable without clarity of the referendum result, clarity of the question and clarity of the support obtained.
That is why it would be far preferable, if not essential, for the question and the majority to be sufficiently clear to leave no doubt as to the meaning to be taken from any referendum that might be held. This is why we have this bill before us.
I have trouble understanding the separatists' argument. Do they really believe that we would wait with our arms folded for Canada to come to an end, without ensuring that this was what Quebecers wanted? We are on the side of democracy. We are in favour of clarity, not confusion. We are not ones to make use of all manner of strategies, with varying degrees of subtlety, to accomplish our ends, unlike some.
The Supreme Court opinion clearly specified that, as political actors, it was our duty to ensure that if there were a referendum it would be held in clarity and that the issues were very clear for everyone.
As we keep on saying, Canada is too wonderful a country to be lost on the basis of a misunderstanding. We are betting on clarity, and on democracy. We have no fear that, with clarity, Quebecers will resolutely choose to remain within Canada, the best country in the world.
