Mr. Speaker, the agenda has not yet been decided. We are still consulting the provinces on it. When it is known, it will be my pleasure to discuss it with the hon. member.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 62% of the vote.
First Ministers Conference June 4th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, the agenda has not yet been decided. We are still consulting the provinces on it. When it is known, it will be my pleasure to discuss it with the hon. member.
First Ministers Conference June 4th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, the agenda is still under negotiation. We are consulting the provinces about it. When it is known, it will be my privilege to discuss it with the hon. member.
First Ministers' Conference May 27th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. However, I can only give him the answer I gave to the Leader of the Opposition, namely that the agenda has still not been drawn up and that the major points of the process to reform our federation are outlined in the throne speech.
First Ministers' Conference May 27th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, see how the opposition twists words. I wanted to make the point that the only way for a government to ensure that order, justice and law are respected is to respect them itself. Anyone outside the law is not in a good position to insist others respect it.
This is why I gave the example of one province that, as compensation for the huge prejudice it considered it had suffered from being cut off from the rest of the country, could ask a government it considered outside the law to comply with it, otherwise it would consider contracts signed with this government null and void.
First Ministers' Conference May 27th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, there has never been any question of preventing the people of Quebec from deciding whether they want to stay in Canada, as we would like, or leave it. At issue is Quebec's claim that it can act unilaterally, set and change at will the way the law is applied.
The basic issue is whether they are acting within the law.
I have a quote for the hon. member: "We are a country in law. Canada and Quebec are not banana republics. There is the Constitution, there is international law, and we have all been elected to defend the law". This quote is taken from a debate in the National Assembly on May 19, 1994 and was made by the Leader of the Opposition at the time, Jacques Parizeau.
My question for the member is this: "Does he want to turn Quebec and Canada into banana republics?"
First Ministers' Conference May 27th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, the throne speech clearly established the direction the Government of Canada intends to propose to Canadians. It is the direction of a more modern federation, one which works even better that at present, although it will be hard to better a country that is one of the best run countries in the world.
It can be improved, however, by building on its strengths, the strengths of a federation which will clarify the roles between levels of government, a federation which will work even better for all Canadians. And that is the orientation clearly set in the throne speech, which the Leader of the Opposition is welcome to reread.
First Ministers' Conference May 27th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, I do not understand why the Leader of the Opposition is jumping to conclusions. The agenda will be known shortly and can then be debated.
First Ministers' Conference May 27th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, the agenda is not yet set, but it will be shortly.
Referendums May 16th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, what the Government of Canada is after in this matter is to ensure that, under all circumstances no matter how difficult, the rights of citizens are respected and negotiations are always held by mutual consent under the protection of the legal order.
Democracy is indissociable from the legal order. What we want is to ensure that, if ever the option of the opposition were to win out, we would not find ourselves in a situation where there would be a legal vacuum. That would be very dangerous for both the people of Quebec and the other citizens of Canada.
Referendums May 16th, 1996
These words, of such truth that they could have come from Sir Wilfrid Laurier or Pierre Trudeau, were spoken on July 1, 1988 by then Secretary of State, the Hon. Lucien Bouchard.