Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, I would like to thank all of the participants. I had the pleasure of meeting with a number of them on this matter. Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge and thank the interpreters who do exceptional work and make a significant contribution. My previous comments were based primarily on the frustration we experience when it is only francophone speakers who are asked to slow down. Nevertheless, we are always sincerely in full admiration of the work they do.
I would also like to say that this really points to a basic question of fairness. If we follow through with the proposed motion, as the NDP wishes, we would also draw the attention of government tax collectors to the real problem of fairness between those who provide work and those who perform it. If we have to reveal something that may be perceived as a way of getting around the law—you decide to do this by contract, but in fact you are an employee—there are consequences and there should be some for the employer, the one setting this up, if that is truly the problem.
Mr. Chair, should the committee adopt this motion, I believe it will produce a very desirable effect. I would also like to point out—and I would like to hear Mr. Fahey on this issue—that this is the subset of a growing labour problem today. I very recently met with a claims expert who works out of her home. There are no more offices, people are working with their laptop computers and BlackBerrys. We are living in a new world and our tax legislation is behind the times. We are talking about employment insurance and how to ensure that people in this situation will have access to it. I would like to hear Mr. Fahey on this matter. What does his group, the Canadian Independent Business Federation, think?