Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
To begin with, I would like to address some comments to the workers who are here with us today.
If our government has voted against this bill up until now, it is not out of a lack of compassion. I am a recent arrival to Ottawa and I can tell you that this has absolutely nothing to do with a lack of compassion on the part of our government. We are very sorry about the unfortunate impact these events have had on you in the last number of years.
Having said that, Mr. Bellavance and Mr. Plamondon, you know that we have been holding consultations for a number of months now on everything dealing with retirement funds in Canada. Those consultations are not only being held in Ottawa. We are also consulting in many provinces across the country. The provincial governments have agreed to come on side and help to develop the kinds of reforms that would improve our health care systems and avoid the kind of thing that happened to plant workers in your region.
My first question is as follows. Why did you introduce your bill again when we are in the process of examining all these issues? What is your true intention?