Well, I haven't read the article, but I could say this. We've had minority parliaments before. The truth of the matter is, the way it works, as I understand it, is that the opposition parties, if they wish to combine and pass legislation, unless it's a confidence measure, can do so. That's their right. It's perfectly their right to do so. So the question becomes how they exercise that authority, as any majority in the House would, however it's constituted.
We've had minority parliaments before. David Lewis held the balance of power in the House of Commons during some very tumultuous times in labour relations. We don't have federal anti-replacement-worker legislation emanating back to the time when he held the balance of power. That tells me something. We look at the prairie provinces, where we've had New Democratic governments. They haven't adopted it.
We should look at the true effects of this, not just on the business community, which is here before you today and speaking on behalf of their constituents, but in terms of the people who you seek to serve with it. I think that's the issue. You may think that disingenuous, and it might be, but the truth of the matter is, it deserves a balanced approach. This is not how we do labour law in this country. It is not how we negotiate contracts, and Mr. Green makes that point.
Is it the coffin in the grave? You know, rhetoric gets a little excited, doesn't it, sometimes in these things? But this isn't how we bargain. Labour law shouldn't be a political game. And I'm not suggesting it's purely that. There are sincere concerns expressed about workplace violence on the pickets lines. Those are real issues, and it's disgusting that those things occur, and the people responsible for them, on all sides, should be held accountable for them.
This is not the instrument to correct that. That's our issue. And a lot of other parties, New Democrats, who've had the opportunity to hold the balance of power or to be in government, have not adopted this measure, because they understand how labour law works. In fact, the New Democrats, for what it's worth, usually have more experience with labour relations issues than a lot of other parliamentarians, given some of the work they've done and their own histories. So they get it. So I would say, look at that experience and look at those examples, sir.