Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
This clause and the subsequent clauses seek to merge four separate crown corporations that manage five international bridges.
The first major aspect is that this provision was once again incorporated into an omnibus bill. It did not deserve to be reviewed separately which shows a lack of respect on the part of the government. It is somewhat troubling, if not very troubling. However, we are still talking to a wall, which is rather sad in this case.
Before we move to the vote, I would like to raise another point. The Federal Bridge Corporation Limited, which will be responsible for these bridges, will not be governed by its own law the way the four crown corporations were. We can therefore ask ourselves if the new entity will be subject to an independent oversight mechanism or whether it will be subject to the government's arbitrary power. Will we be kept somewhat in the dark?
It is really unfortunate for the communities that will be affected. They would have certainly deserved to have this provision reviewed separately, and so would have all the people who use those international bridges connecting us to the United States. The committee was not able to spend more than a few minutes on this issue. As we clearly recall, the officials were forced into a very fast-paced game of musical chairs. There was also the information evening that basically went on until midnight. Unfortunately, this provision is imposed on us and fails to respect a large segment of the Canadian population, meaning the businesses and people who must use those bridges and who will be affected by those amendments.