Mr. Speaker, I will try to proceed as quickly as possible.
You will know that the firms Scotia McLeod, Nesbitt Burns and Goldman Sachs have been hired to co-ordinate the sale of CN shares at the international level. The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that CN remains under Canadian control, since it is Canadian taxpayers' money that was used to build it. That is what our amendment is all about.
I can tell you that, in the transport committee, I was very disappointed that the syndicate of the three companies responsible for launching the issue of shares refused to answer my questions, and in particular a very legitimate question asking what their fee for this operation would be. I think the taxpayers of Quebec and Canada have the right to know how much Scotia McLeod, Nesbitt Burns and the U.S. firm Goldman Sachs will be paid to launch the new issue of CN's shares.
The question was perfectly legitimate, but I was told this was confidential information that could not be divulged. I want to say that the answer is unsatisfactory.
I had other very pertinent questions for which I did not get any answers either. I will read a few to the House. I had 21 of them. For instance, I asked:
What are the prospective financial statistics for CN upon which the sale price will have to be based? I am interested in the following for the years 1990-95 through 2000. I wanted to know the operating cash flow, the free cash flow after capital spending but before dividends, operating income and the net income.
I had all kinds of questions to which I received no answer. I asked them, for example:
What is your estimation of the value of land and other real estate property?
I received no answer. That is why I am very concerned about the fact that the new privatized CN could fall under foreign management when taxpayers in Quebec and Canada have made such a major contribution to the development of this company.