Mr. Atkinson, the government says that we have to deal with our own problems. In last Thursday’s budget, it told everyone to deal with their own problems.
What worries me most is that even if we pass a law, that doesn’t mean anyone has to comply with either the letter or the spirit of that law. We have to find another way. Sooner or later, there will be lots of cases like this one with Aveos. I think that we have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. We have to find a way to protect jobs and maintenance centres, because this is about the industry and the issues the unions are facing within companies. I am not a militant unionist, but I believe that workers have rights. Unions exist for a reason. We have to find the right balance.
I humbly suggest—I can certainly be humble—
find a way.
And we are pushing. I've been there since day one. We're all pushing, but it's not only about Aveos. It's about the future of our aerospace. It's about our future.
Right now we have a hangar in Windsor, and it seems that the law cannot be respected; they're going to give away jobs there. They're going to give the jobs away. They're going to clean out Montreal. Then what? Well, let's go to the United States, because in the States they have all the certificates, and we'll go there.
You have to keep putting the pressure on even though the government has a majority. You have to quit passing the puck around. The union has to say that it will go to court and that it has support from the provincial governments and the opposition.
This is not about changing the law. This is about making sure the law is obeyed. Personally, I am disappointed that the NDP members are talking about whether the law should be changed. Why not start by enforcing and obeying the law? We would only change the law if people were obeying it, but it was not working.