We salute the spirit of the House of Commons in providing private members with the opportunity for legislation, over the last couple of decades, thanks to the outrage of groups like ours that see private members not given the independence they deserve and not being able to bring independent ideas to the House.
This bill received the support of a majority of members of the House to get it to committee stage. At the time, many of the members who voted for, and possibly even against, the bill indicated that they wanted to see what would come out of the committee, so I think to deride an independent member who gets a bill to committee stage for sloppy drafting undermines the spirit of private members' legislation. I'd be very cautious about that. That's what committees are for.
What legislation has brought the Canadian Labour Congress, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the building trades, and the Taxpayers Federation around the same table to have an open discussion? How often do we get a voice like this?
I don't think you can, on the one hand, condemn omnibus legislation and that style of legislation—which we certainly do—and at the same time take issue with a private member bringing a bill, getting it past second reading, and bringing it to committee. I think this is what parliamentary democracy is all about. I think this gives all members on all sides of the House an opportunity to have an influence on the process, and also an opportunity to Canadians from all walks of life.
We endorse this process. We endorse the legislation in spirit, and we appreciate your giving us this opportunity to participate today.