Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's worth noting that those cases were resolved by the courts. They didn't need this bill to do that.
I signed my first union card in 1961, and I spent 22 years as a rank-and-file member of my union, first with the railway and then with the communication workers at Bell Canada. I attended every union meeting. Every month I saw and voted on the financial statements of two separate unions. Later on I was a delegate to our national convention, where I got to see and vote on every financial statement, which was audited. Then in about 1982, I was elected as an officer of my local, and I attended every single Canadian Labour Congress convention as a delegate until being elected here. I saw and voted on them.
I will point out something. Neither my employer nor the government had a vote on those, because it was the information of the membership. It was not of the union, but of the membership, because that's who the union is.
Mr. Blakely, your testimony today highlighted the fact that your competitors are the ones who want this bill, because it will give them an advantage over you. Would you like to explain that a little bit further? One point might be relative to the hiring hall. I mean, there is the separation between the two types of unions.