Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to begin by thanking all of our witnesses here today. Several of you said that the government will have to take a stand. In fact, legislators will have to make a decision and act accordingly. You are leading us in the right direction, which we greatly appreciate.
We also appreciate the CGAA being here, since you are on the front lines of this issue. You work with your clients on a daily basis. So your practical experience will be very useful to us.
When we travel for these consultations, we don't have much time to look at all of the issues. I wanted to congratulate you again, Mr. Georgetti. I haven't forgotten what you have done for me as far as the labour congress is concerned. Your suggestions are most promising and positive. Please forgive me for not spending much time on them, since I am familiar with this issue and we have already discussed it in the past.
There is one thing in particular I would like to raise with Mr. Charbonneau, since he took the time to knock on doors. He went to the trouble of making appointments and meeting with us.
Mr. Benoît, Mr. Charbonneau and you said something very specific. I am like Mr. Menzies, in that I like to check my facts before I say something. In your brief, Mr. Benoît, you say that extending the protection to solvency deficit payments or providing preferred creditor status to pensions and pay would materially affect—those are your words—existing credit arrangements and significantly undermine—again, a clear statement on your part—the employers' ability to raise capital at a reasonable cost.
Apart from your experience and personal opinion, how do you justify this?