44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 2, 2022 10:00AM
Mr. Speaker, during your time speaking, you mentioned the importance of Quebec and the French language to Winnipeg. Perhaps you could expand on that and talk about how important the feeling is that various communities in Manitoba have toward Quebec.
I know that in northern Ontario, places like Dubreuilville or Sturgeon Falls, which are predominantly French, support a lot of what is happening in Quebec. They basically see it as the motherland that they emigrated from, and they see a very strong, united Canada with Quebec in it.
Could you please expand on the feelings of Winnipeg towards maintaining or grandfathering these 78 seats for Quebec?
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Mr. Speaker, the connections that take place interprovincially are truly amazing.
I reference my own heritage from the province, along the St. Lawrence. My great-great-great-grandparents came from that region and moved out to St-Pierre-Jolys, Manitoba. From there, they went to St. Boniface, which became a part of the city of Winnipeg.
The St. Boniface community and many rural communities in Manitoba have very strong ties to the province of Quebec. One thing that holds that tie so closely is the French language. When things take place in the province of Quebec, whether it is an ice storm or the Olympics of many years ago, there is always interest from my home province of Manitoba. There are strong ties between people, and that is one of the nice things about the federation. I believe no matter where we go, we will always find those types of connections.
The general feeling I get is that people are very proud of other aspects of Canada, and I do not think anyone who has that passion for Quebec would want to see Quebec lose a House of Commons seat. Equally, I do not think the Province of Quebec or the people of Quebec would want to see Manitoba lose a seat when we look at electoral boundary changes.
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Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the member for Winnipeg North, who I find very interesting and enjoy hearing from.
I do not mean to insult him, but I noticed something in his presentation that I see frequently and that I would describe as “predatory federalism”. I apologize for using that phrase, but it means that the Quebec nation and the French language are great as long as they remain a quaint curiosity.
If we look back in history, we have seen this predatory federalism on several occasions. I could even go back to the Laurendeau-Dunton commission, which could have led to Quebec being recognized, since Canada was supposed to be a bilingual and bicultural country. However, the federalists got scared and resorted to predatory federalism. They thought that if they granted recognition to Quebec, they would have a problem later on because that recognition could be leveraged for political power. That is why they went with multiculturalism instead.
That was the first time Quebec was rejected, but it was far from the last. Just think of Meech Lake or Charlottetown. Every time Quebec has asked for the political power to which it is entitled as a nation, the federalists have said no and invoked what I call “predatory federalism”. It goes without saying that Quebec is trying to protect itself in response to that.
If they recognize us as a nation, why not give us the power and the potential that belong to a nation? I would remind my colleague from Winnipeg North that this assembly was once prepared to recognize Quebec's political power by giving it 25% of the seats in the Charlottetown accord. Unfortunately, that accord was never adopted because people got scared, as my colleague explained earlier.
I do not see why he is afraid to add a Quebec clause to Bill C‑14. I do not know what scares him about that prospect, other than the fact that it would give Quebec a certain recognition. I believe that is clear enough. That is why, Mr. Speaker, I move:That this question be now put.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to answer my colleague by saying that informed politicians who are familiar with Quebec and Canadian politics would know that we have been talking about these issues for more than 50 years. At some point we need to stop debating; we need to do something.
We are moving this motion today. I do not think it is illegitimate or irrational to ask that a nation like the Quebec nation be ensured 25% representation in the House for the time it remains in Canada. I do not think that this is unreasonable. As I said earlier, it was part of the Charlottetown Accord. We talked about it on our opposition day.
The hon. member for Winnipeg North often uses closure these days to say that we must move things forward. This is the Bloc’s answer to that. It is the Bloc’s closure. We want to move our issues forward. I invite my colleagues to look at it that way, in a spirit of friendship and cordiality.
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- Jun/2/22 11:41:06 a.m.
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Order. I thank the hon. member for his intervention.
The hon. member for Winnipeg North.
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- Jun/2/22 2:22:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, do you want me to list more Liberal secrets?
There was SNC-Lavalin, the paid vacations, the WE Charity scandal, the Winnipeg lab documents. The Information Commissioner of Canada is receiving more complaints than ever before, and now the Prime Minister and his cabinet are keeping 72 decisions secret.
“[I]t is time to shine more light on government to make sure it remains focused on the people it was created to serve—you.” Those were the Prime Minister's words in 2015.
When did Canadians stop being his priority?
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- Jun/2/22 3:02:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have seen democratic decline in Canada under the Liberals, and this is no more true than with the Winnipeg lab documents. NDP members have completely betrayed themselves and the promises they made in the last election. It turns out that this coalition is serving up the worst of both parties: The Liberals are adopting NDP economics and the NDP is adopting the Liberals' culture of secrecy.
Why is the NDP-Liberal government blocking Parliament’s access to these documents?
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