Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I explained to the House, yesterday, I was away for part of August and part of September. While I was away I made it my business not to read newspapers and watch television, and to stay away from the media as much as I possibly could. However, I was delighted when I came back and found that, as a result of a meeting in Charlottetown; Canada, at least, has a consensus agreement on our Constitution.
While I was away, I did spend a bit of time reflecting on the fact that all over the world people are dealing with constitutional problems. We think we are unique until you realize that there are six countries in Yugoslavia that are now working on their constitutions. There are more than a dozen republics in the old Soviet Union that are working on their constitutions. Both East and West Germany are trying to unify, and they are working on their constitution. You find that the Philippines are working on their constitution. The people of Israel are working on their constitution. So, we are not unique.
However, Mr. Speaker, the point I want to make, today, is that things can happen when people of good get together. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this process, which has taken such a long time, has resulted in the kind of compromise which will not please everybody, of course. For example, when we buy a house, we may not like the front look of it, we might not like the look of where the garage is, or the colour of the paint, or the exact location of the grounds, the gate, and so on. But overall, we think, well, a lot of people have worked on this, this is what we have come up with, and it represents a compromise among people.
Having read through that consensus agreement now, Mr. Speaker, I feel very pleased at the part that many people throughout this country have played in trying to come to a sensible conclusion to what has been a long and acrimonious debate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.