PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, LA PRESSE CANADIENNE
Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet.
(Ottawa) By imposing a debate in the House of Commons on Quebec City's Bill 96, the Bloc Québécois said it wanted to "unmask" federal elected officials who only supported the Legault government's initiative as a façade.
In the second speech in the House by a Liberal elected official, the bloc's wish was granted.
Montreal Liberal MP Anthony Housefather expressed concern about the "limited and symbolic" scope of the motion that will be put to the vote on Wednesday, tried to amend it, unsuccessfully, before finding a few hours later that his Liberal colleagues in cabinet would not follow him.
"That this House agree that section 45 of the Constitution Act, 1982 confers on Quebec and the provinces exclusive jurisdiction to amend their respective constitutions; and take note of Quebec's desire to enshrine in its constitution that Quebecers form a nation, that French is the only official language of Quebec and that it is also the common language of the Quebec nation," says the motion tabled by the Bloc Québécois.
Mr. Housefather would have liked the motion to specify that the Quebec nation exists "in a united Canada" and that the rights of Quebec's English-speaking minority will be protected; he believes that Bill 96 threatens this minority.
"We have received assurances from the Government of Quebec that it will continue to respect its constitutional obligations to the Anglophone minority," said federal Justice Minister David Lametti when he spoke during Question Period.
"Today's motion ... reflects the current state of the law and recognizes the will of Quebec. That is why the government will vote in his favour," the minister said.
No one on the government benches wanted to tell the Bloc members who asked whether all liberal MPs would vote the same way, including Mp Housefather.
A vote on Wednesday
At a press conference before the debate began in the House, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet said he expected his motion to be adopted by an overwhelming majority of federal elected officials on Wednesday.
He said he wanted to note everyone's vote so that he could "unmask" those who would support the motion this week and then, later, would like to finance a possible legal challenge to Bill 96 once this text is adopted by the National Assembly.
Instead, Mp Housefather offered him, from his first words, a frank opposition to the motion.
Three weeks ago, only independent MP and former Liberal minister Jody Wilson-Raybould refused the unanimity needed at the time to adopt the motion without notice.
Mr. Blanchet already doubted the real feelings of all federal Liberal MPs.
Other opposition parties
A Conservative MP, Scott Reid, applauded Mr. Housefather's speech without restraint. However, he felt that the courts would have to judge Bill 96 and pledged to vote in favour of the motion.
Conservative leader Erin O'Toole's Quebec lieutenant had just committed his entire party. "Today's motion has my support and the support of my party," Richard Martel said in the House.
In a question to the Bloc leader during the debate, Green Party MP Elizabeth May also questioned Quebec's right to amend the 1867 Constitution as it intends to do with its Bill 96.
"I invite the member to reconsider," Blanchet simply replied.
For their part, the New Democrats believe that there is "a very broad consensus" on the motion. The only Quebec MEMBER of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Alexandre Boulerice, however, stressed in his speech in the House that all this has only a "symbolic value."
"It won't make much difference in the lives of Quebecers," said Boulerice.
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