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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 74

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 18, 2022 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 74 - May/18/22
Mr. René Villemure (Trois-Rivières, BQ)
  • May/18/22 6:11:33 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-14 
Madam Speaker, it is an honour for me to speak to Bill C-14 today. We are talking about representative democracy, and representative democracy is about being present, being seen and being heard. The numerous studies on demography tell us that democracies today must have three characteristics to be worthy of this moniker. Those three characteristics are representativeness, trustworthiness and legitimacy. As far as representativeness is concerned, Bill C‑14 proposes to maintain Quebec's seat count. That is representative, to a degree. However, there is a loss of political weight, so it somewhat misses the mark in terms of representativeness. As far as trustworthiness is concerned, we are living in an untrustworthy world. Finally, as far as legitimacy is concerned, doubts are creeping in about democracy. It is therefore very important to be able to determine exactly what is coming down the line. There is consensus about maintaining the 78 seats, as requested by Quebec. However, not maintaining Quebec's weight is unacceptable to us. I simply cannot wholeheartedly endorse this bill. If we allow Quebec's weight to decline, there will—
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