Pierrette Venne

[Linguistic School Boards, April 10th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

In acting as they are with the linguistic school board situation, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs are demonstrating exactly why all of the governments of Quebec, whether sovereignist or federalist, have denounced or rejected the Canadian Constitution which was imposed on Quebec 15 years ago.

Will the Prime Minister admit that he is once again making use of the 1982 Constitution to intervene directly in a matter which falls under the jurisdiction of the National Assembly, in order to dictate to Quebecers how they are to handle their own affairs?

[Linguistic School Boards, April 9th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the minister that it is the Government of Quebec that is responsible for finding a common ground with all stakeholders in the education sector.

Why does the minister continue to refuse to recognize that the only judge of what constitutes a consensus in Quebec is and must be the National Assembly of Quebec?

[Linguistic School Boards, April 9th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Yesterday, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs continued to deny the democratic legitimacy of Quebec's National Assembly, which was elected by the people of Quebec, anglophones and francophones, and to require the agreement of certain pressure groups before taking any action with respect to the linguistic school boards issue.

Does the minister realize that, by setting himself up as the sole judge of what constitutes a consensus in Quebec, he is confirming that the 1982 Constitution did indeed undermine the authority of Quebec's National Assembly and that it allows Ottawa to deny the collective will of the people, as expressed by their government?

[The Constitution, April 8th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, is the minister not, by his actions, giving a veto to any group, however small, that challenges the Marois reform?

[The Constitution, April 8th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, on March 27, 1997, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs said on RDI that there had to be reasonable support by religious and anglophone groups for amending section 93, before there could be said to be a consensus in Quebec. But some groups opposing this amendment are calling for a constitutional guarantee of the language rights of anglophones in Quebec, a guarantee that does not exist at all for francophones outside Quebec.

Will the minister admit that, by refusing to go ahead with the amendment requested, he is in actual fact supporting the groups calling for additional constitutional protection for Quebec's anglophones, while francophones are ignored?

[Canadian Unity, March 20th, 1997]

-the real reason Option Canada obtained millions of dollars barely a few days after its incorporation, without having to provide any accounting of the use it made of this money?

[Canadian Unity, March 20th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, oddly enough, in addition to Claude Dauphin, the founding members of Option Canada also include three members of the Council on Canadian Unity: Michel Vennat, Jocelyn Beaudouin and René Lemaire.

Is this incest, to say the least-

[Canadian Unity, March 20th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

An official spokesperson for Heritage Canada said he had no idea what use was made of the funds the federal government gave to Option Canada. Claude Dauphin, one of the founding presidents of Option Canada and the Liberal candidate approached to run in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce indicates that these funds were not used to fund the no side of the referendum campaign.

What guarantees can the Prime Minister give us that the federal subsidy to the phantom Option Canada were not used in some way to subvert the Quebec referendum act?

[St. Patrick's Day, March 17th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday thousands of Quebecers filled St. Catherine Street to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, when all Quebecers become O'Quebecers, as Cardinal Turcotte pointed out.

St. Patrick's Day is a time to remember when this community came to Quebec from its country of origin some 150 years ago to escape the potato famine. The conditions for these immigrants on board ship and subsequently in quarantine on Grosse-Île remain painful memories that testify to the courage and determination of the Irish.

In his sermon yesterday in St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was founded 150 years ago, Cardinal Daly recalled the warm welcome extended in the past by Canada's francophones who, together with the Irish already established in Montreal, worked so hard to alleviate the suffering of these Irish newcomers.

St. Patrick's Day has become a tradition in Quebec. We all celebrate this day and hope that this tradition will be maintained for many years to come.

A happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone.

[International Women's Day, March 10th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House today to draw your attention, somewhat belatedly, to International Women's Day and comment on the place of women in politics.

In the latest study by the Interparliamentary Union about men and women in politics and "unfinished democracy", we read that women today have only 11.7 per cent of the seats in parliaments throughout the world. Here in this House we are not doing much better, since women have only 18 per cent of the seats.

Much remains to be done to remedy the under-representation of women in politics, a situation that is one of the most serious flaws of our modern democracies.

To improve the situation, all political parties should follow the example of Scandinavian parties and adopt measures to promote the integration of women in politics. The Scandinavian experience has been successful, since that region has the highest percentage of female parliamentarians at over 37 per cent.