Jean-Pierre Blackburn

[The Québécois, November 27th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to say to all parliamentarians that this is a historic moment. Let us enjoy the moment, we will deal with the other aspects another day. In my opinion, today,all of us together, are finally telling Quebeckers that we recognize that they form a nation within this country.

Is this not a wonderful gesture by all of us, to finally say it, acknowledge it and make a resolution of it? Everyone will stand tonight to recognize Quebeckers.

[The Québécois, November 27th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, having had the opportunity to work on constitutional issues in the past, I would say that the first nations are already recognized in the Canadian constitution. I would like to point out that the Prime Minister, who brought this motion forward, has been an extremely unifying influence for everyone in this House.

I would like to pay tribute to him for having the wisdom and foresight to find a motion that would unite the Liberals, the Conservatives and the New Democrats, whose support we expect to have this evening.

I want to say again that we must live in the present, we must experience this day to the fullest. The other steps will come later, but today we must experience something that is obvious to Quebeckers. It is obvious and that is why it is more difficult to see than some other things, this obvious thing that is not obvious.

Nonetheless, we are making progress today, thanks to the motion brought forward by the Prime Minister who has been an extremely unifying influence.

[The Québécois, November 27th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, we understand of course that we are witnessing an historic act today with this recognition of the Québécois as a nation within a united Canada, given the past failure of the Meech Lake accord and given that everything has been extremely difficult in the last 15 years.

All of that will ultimately be expressed in what we expect to see: that we will eventually have more constitutional negotiations, and one day Quebec can be brought back into the Constitution with honour and enthusiasm, as the former prime minister, Mr. Mulroney, expressed it.

Given that our Prime Minister has put this motion before the House and that we also recognize—or allow—Quebec’s presence at UNESCO, or given our desire to continue to establish limits on the federal spending power in areas under provincial jurisdiction, I believe that an effort is now being made. What we do today is important, but we must not make assumptions about when those negotiations will take place; certainly the circumstances must be right for negotiations to be initiated.

If this motion had been the opposite, if the motion had been: That this House recognize that English Canada forms a nation within a united Canada, everyone in this House would have risen and said that this is obvious, because it was with us when this country was founded. The same is true for us. This is recognition of what we are, and this evening we will take this great step, do this historic thing, together, when we vote at 8 o’clock.

[The Québécois, November 27th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. opposition colleague from the Liberal Party can also recognize the Bloc Québécois' objective. It was trying to stir up discord among Liberal Party representatives and especially at first, among us, the ministers from Quebec, who had already publicly announced our support for recognizing the principle that Quebec is a nation. Fortunately, our Prime Minister, who now joins the list of great prime ministers of this country, understands very well what Quebec is all about. His openness was evident and he quickly found a way to resolve the situation.

For this reason, I hope my hon. colleague understands the importance of the issue that has been before us for the past week. It was an attempt to trigger bickering in this House, to cause the members to provoke one another. However, we here this evening, in a large majority from the Liberal Party, the NDP and Conservatives, will stand behind the Prime Minister to recognize that Quebec forms a nation within a united Canada.

This is a big day for us. Naturally, I was sad to learn that one of our colleagues is having difficulty with this. It is very upsetting. Nevertheless, we must join together and continue advancing towards our shared objective, which is to build this country.

In response to the hon. member's question, the Liberals have a caucus and so do we. Indeed, our Prime Minister talks to us and we have discussions. We are able to get our points of view across. It is in this context that this resolution is before us here today. This is a very positive step for Quebec.

[The Québécois, November 27th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it is with pride and understanding that I take part in today's debate on a motion introduced by the Prime Minister, which reads:

That this House recognize that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada.

What a historic gesture, in more ways than one!

It recognizes a fact that history has made indisputable. It constitutes the fair recognition of the specificity of a people, the people of Quebec, which is distinguished by its language, its culture and its own institutions, and the fact that Quebec is indeed one of the two founding nations of this country, Canada. As a member of the governing party, I am pleased that it was our Prime Minister who had the courage to acknowledge, through the motion before us, a reality that is an irrefutable fact, a recognition that leaves no one indifferent and that affects each and every one of us in this Parliament.

Not only do Quebeckers form a nation, but over the years we have shaped our own identity within this country, Canada, that we and our ancestors have contributed to building. This historical reality is nothing new. It is part of the history of Quebec society, of a community of 60,000 inhabitants who, scattered along the shores of the St. Lawrence in 1760, were able to assemble to make the most of a heritage of traditions that have been passed down over the centuries.

Every Canadian, from every region, benefits from this tenacity in developing that heritage because the country we live in is enriched by it in many ways. Canada would not be Canada without Quebec and Quebeckers would not form a nation within Canada without these generations of men and women who passed on to those who came after them a passion to develop the unique identity that is ours in North America.

As I was saying a moment ago, recognition under this motion does not change the socio-political landscape of Canada and Quebec, but it marks a change and a major evolution, in that the other nation that gave birth to this great country, Canada, now recognizes what we are. However, I am disappointed by the reaction from sovereignists in Quebec, and particularly our Bloc Québécois friends. They obviously did not expect the Prime Minister to table this motion. Last Wednesday, the Prime Minister had barely finished talking when the Bloc Québécois leader got going in one of his typical rhetorical outpourings, trying to explain to the House that Quebeckers form a nation and that there can be no condition attached to this reality.

In short, the Bloc Québécois showed its true colours last week, and the Prime Minister was right when he said the following, in his speech delivered on Wednesday:

It is to recognize not what the Québécois are, but what the sovereignists would like them to be. To the Bloc, the issue is not that Quebec is a nation—the National Assembly has already spoken on that subject; the issue is separation. To them, “nation” means “separation”.

What has happened over the past few days in this House? The Bloc Québécois tabled a motion in order to set a trap for us, in order to create a real disturbance in this House, in order to get us into a lobster trap, as we said.

The objective was to put us, ministers from Quebec, in an extremely difficult situation and to perhaps force us to take a sidestep toward the recognition of Quebec as a nation. However, our Prime Minister showed foresight. He is close to Quebec and aware of its expectations. It is in this context that the Prime Minister quickly took that motion and put in its proper context by saying that Quebec forms a nation within a united Canada.

What saddens me today—and this is unfortunately what the Bloc Québécois tried to provoke among us—is to see that one of our colleagues, the Minister for Sport and Minister of Intergovernmental Affaires, faced this difficulty today and had to decide not to acknowledge this reality. I speak about my hon. colleague with great respect because he is a man I like. What I find shocking is to see the members of the Bloc succeeding once again in sowing trouble in the House of Commons. That is always what they are over there for, to make sure that things do not work, to try to break up Canada instead of building it.

I know that, this evening, the overwhelming majority of the House will recognize the obvious fact that we Quebeckers form a nation within a united Canada. That is why I am here in this House trying to build this country.

When their trickery was exposed through their reaction to the Prime Minister's motion, great nervousness spread through their ranks and the real face of the Bloc Québécois emerged. That is what we saw, the sight of the Bloc Québécois as it really is. The mere mention of the words “a united Canada” provoked a violent reaction from this party. Most Quebeckers, on the other hand, do not respond in this way at all.

Our government, like the majority in Quebec, has a deeply held conviction that the development, advancement, progress and prosperity of Quebec society are better assured within the Canadian federation than in an independent Quebec, as preached by the Bloc, whose hypothetical benefits are just baseless speculation. Recognizing “that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada” is just recognizing a historical fact.

I had a chance to say this to some journalists a little earlier. Today is a great day for us Quebeckers. It is not the first time that Quebec has tried to have certain things recognized by this House. We had Meech Lake, which certain people managed to torpedo, but now Quebec is taking another step forward. We Quebeckers are managing to get our colleagues and all the parties in the House to recognize that we form a nation within a united Canada.

Quebeckers know very well that their interests are not served by isolation, semantics and symbolism. Contrary to what the Bloc Québécois says, it is not despite Canada that Quebec has become a strong society, richly diverse, and turned to the future. Our federation enables Quebeckers to be themselves in their country, alongside Newfoundlanders, Ontarians, Albertans and the inhabitants of all the other provinces.

Quebeckers know who they are. They know they took part in the founding of Canada, and that they helped shape this country in all its grandeur. They know they have protected their language and culture, while promoting their values and interests within Canada. They know that, in the end, they can be Canadians and Quebeckers, and that they need not choose between the two, as the Bloc would have them do. They know they are at the heart of Canadian identity.

The flexibility of our federalism has allowed Quebeckers to grow, and our distinctiveness has given us the development tools we need to prosper, to be present on the international scene and, above all, to create a modern state that could be considered in many regards the envy of other countries that have achieved full political sovereignty, as the former sovereignist premier Bernard Landry recently suggested.

No, this evolution is not pure happenstance. Just like the other partners in our federation, Quebec benefits from the advantages of an economic union, which is the guarantee of our current and future prosperity. It also benefits from a social union, which, despite its many challenges, is still the envy of many countries. Lastly, it also benefits from a political union that binds together a country that shines on the international scene, strengthened by an enviable reputation and its associated values of generosity and solidarity.

Canada represents a winning combination and federalism has helped us become one of the most prosperous countries on the planet. Over the years, federalism has proven to be flexible and effective. It has allowed us to consistently achieve enviable results in terms of collective wealth, individual revenue and job creation.

Federalism serves us well. By creating a unified market, it makes possible a great mobility of goods, services, workers and capital.

Federalism provides a common currency, which facilitates business dealings and the flow of capital. It helps moderate the impact of economic shocks, and in doing so ensures greater economic stability for all Canadians through the sharing of risk, regional transfers and the pooling of the riches of our country. It ensures that less prosperous regions have a higher standard of living and better health care and educational services than they would otherwise be able to provide.

Our federalism also improves our ability to negotiate with foreign countries. We are not alone against the rest of the world. The size of our market means that we have considerable negotiating power on the international level. Canada has a seat at the table of the G-7; it is an influential member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and plays an important role in the Organisation for Co-operation and Economic Development (OCED).

We are a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth, la Francophonie, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Organization of American States (OAS), and NATO. Because of our geography, Canada has open access to the world’s three biggest economic markets, Europe, the Americas and Asia.

The benefits that Quebec derives from Canadian federalism are also of a political nature, because federalism takes account of differences by encouraging cooperation and compromise. Federalism was not imposed on Quebeckers. They, in fact, are the chief artisans of its creation and its development. The main benefits of federalism lie in its flexibility, its vitality, its pluralism, its development of diversity and its ability to adapt to modern challenges. Federalism is not rigid. It distributes political jurisdiction in ways that respond to the common needs of our population, while recognizing particular situations.

Quebec has control of several jurisdictions, among which are natural resources and education. It has its own civil code, which makes its legal system unique in North America. It has its own Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It collects its own income tax.

Canadian federalism consistently demonstrates its effectiveness. The main reason, as I emphasized previously, is that it is able to adapt to the changes that great modern issues demand. Federalism allows those countries that embrace it to redefine intergovernmental relations in the light of their development, as has been the case since the 1950s.

Canadian federalism has proven that it can innovate in order to respond to the legitimate interests of Quebec within our constitutional framework. For example, since 1960, a series of agreements between the federal government and the Quebec provincial government has enabled the province to expand its spheres of activity into areas traditionally reserved for the federal government. In the area of immigration, Quebec chooses its immigrants and has its own integration programs. In the area of foreign policy, the federal government has developed a series of mechanisms to integrate the interests of Quebec and enable it to participate directly in international activities. The Sommet de la Francophonie, and more recently the announcement of a role for Quebec within the Canadian delegation to UNESCO are good examples of this, and are part of a growing trend.

Another benefit offered by federalism is that it protects collective freedoms through the mechanism of autonomy. It permits communities to benefit from comparable services throughout the country while maintaining a degree of autonomy enabling them to express their differences.

Federalism represents one of the political structures that can best deal with the modern challenges facing present-day societies. The Canadian political and economic union, the appreciable influence of Canada on the international scene, its solid credit reputation on international markets, its quality of life and its ability to realign resources are all essential benefits enabling Quebec to retain control over its destiny without compromising its future.

Bombardier, SNC-Lavalin and Cascades—to name but three—are all Canadian companies that have penetrated international markets. Céline Dion, Robert Lepage, Robert Charlebois, Denys Arcand and Cirque du Soleil were able to develop their talent and to be equally successful on the international scene.

It is important to remember that the advocates of separation have never been able to prove that Quebeckers would be more prosperous and in a better position were they to separate from Canada.

That is the fundamental dilemma of Quebec sovereignists. They are unable to convince us that Quebec would be better off, more prosperous or even happier. They are determined to break up this country that has served us so well instead of building it and helping it grow with respect for its two founding nations. On the other hand, Quebeckers know what Canadian federalism has to offer. That is why most of them remain opposed to separation and that is why they want to remain both Quebecker and Canadian.

Canada is prosperous, technologically advanced, economically and politically stable, a place where wealth is shared and respect and tolerance are common values. Our two nations are complementary and enrich each other.

The current debate is undeniably useful. It shows the true face of the Bloc Québécois, to whom the term “nation” is equivalent to “separation” rather than “potential to develop within Canada”. It sheds light on the need for a united Canada, a country in which Quebeckers have prospered by contributing significantly to the development of our country.

Since Confederation, Quebec's identity has been one of Canada's historical and political characteristics. As I was saying at the beginning of my speech, the purpose of this motion is simply to recognize an irrefutable fact: Quebeckers indeed form a nation, which has developed and flourished and continues to do so within a united country called Canada. Furthermore, Quebec's National Assembly recently affirmed that Quebeckers form a nation.

I want to remind this House, all parliamentarians, that it is up to us today to learn from the wisdom of our ancestors and recognize this step, and that our future within this country called Canada is a promising one. I want to say again to the Bloc Québécois: leave this House. You no longer belong here. You want to break up this country, while a majority of Canadians and Quebeckers want to stay in it. Leave this House. You no longer belong here. You are sowing provocation and discord in this House when we should be moving forward and building this country.

[Economic Development, November 23rd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the authorities have in fact informed us about this problem arising from the work that has to be done on the dock. The question of the water intake is extremely important to the operation.

Progress continues to be made in this matter, and we will be in a position to make more specific announcements at the appropriate time.

[SOFTWOOD LUMBER PRODUCTS EXPORT CHARGE ACT, 2006, November 22nd, 2006]

moved:

Motion No. 18

That Bill C-24, in Clause 17, be amended by

a) replacing lines 42 and 43 on page 12 with the following:

“product from the charges referred to in sections 10 and 14.”

(b) replacing line 3 on page 13 with the following:

“charges referred to in sections 10 and 14.”

[SOFTWOOD LUMBER PRODUCTS EXPORT CHARGE ACT, 2006, November 22nd, 2006]

moved:

Motion No. 15

That Bill C-24, in Clause 14, be amended by

(a) replacing line 38 on page 11 with the following:

“Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, as provided in subsection 10.1(2),”

(b) replacing lines 5 and 6 on page 12 with the following:

“responsible for excess exports as determined under subsection (2) shall pay to Her Majesty in right of Canada a charge calculated”

(c) replacing lines 9 and 10 on page 12 with the following:

“excess exports.

(1.1) The charge becomes payable at the time that the softwood lumber product is exported.

(2) A person’s excess exports shall equal”

Motion No. 16

That Bill C-24, in Clause 14, be amended by replacing, in the English version, line 2 on page 12 with the following:

“primary processing in one of those provinces from”

[SOFTWOOD LUMBER PRODUCTS EXPORT CHARGE ACT, 2006, November 22nd, 2006]

moved:

Motion No. 7

That Bill C-24, in Clause 10.1, be amended by

(a) replacing line 27 on page 5 with the following:

“referred to in section 10:”

(b) replacing line 12 on page 6 with the following:

“underwent its first primary processing in one of”

Motion No. 8

That Bill C-24, in Clause 10.1, be amended by replacing, in the English version, line 32 on page 5 with the following:

“Territories or Nunavut; and”

Motion No. 13

That Bill C-24, in Clause 12, be amended by replacing lines 2 to 13 on page 8 with the following:

“who is certified under section 25.”

[Wage Earner Protection Program Act, November 22nd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it is coming.