Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you for a very excellent overview with respect to how the board operates.
Inasmuch as a disclaimer has been made in terms of making comments on the legislation, I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to question Ms. Matteau.
What really is before us is a challenge that was put by the Public Service Alliance and a professional organization, which left the proposition thusly: if the labour relations board architecture was vested with the additional powers that are being suggested to the tribunal, it could, in their opinion, work with its corporate memory and its ability to act expeditiously; it could do the job, and it would not be necessary to recreate a system that in fact is there. That was basically the proposition that was put forward.
I'm not sure whether I'm stepping beyond the boundaries that Ms. Matteau is comfortable with, but I think she can see and feel the dilemma. In order to explore the validity of the alliance, it would be necessary to extract an opinion at least. So I guess I'm going to phrase the question in this way. Given the terms and conditions with respect to the tribunal, do you believe it would be in the interests of the employee and the employer--because you said the arbitrations board is a balanced board, that it applies precedents, the labour relations act, and all aspects of collective agreements--to create an additional body, as suggested in this legislation? If not, do you feel you could make suggestions as to how the labour relations board could do all that this bill makes it accountable for?