Mr. Chair, I get the impression I'm in the National Improvisation League here. The situation is completely crazy. A bill has been referred to us for consideration. We have heard a host of witnesses, and as we are preparing to conduct the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, an amendment is submitted to us, a surprise motion that we're trying to negotiate like this.
I tell you that trying to negotiate with our colleagues is insulting and contemptuous. Mr. Chair, we can't treat matters as important as this lightly. We all due respect for my colleagues here present, I must say that this is intolerable.
We could very well have introduced a motion today and said that the evidence heard in the first part indicates to us that a better balance will be struck with this bill, and I would have found that insulting for our colleagues. The reverse is also true. You can't say today that Bill C-257 will result in an imbalance in view of the evidence we've heard, because that evidence has to be viewed in perspective, in light of the initial evidence.
We know that there was an imbalance in the evidence. That's been admitted here. By dint of circumstance, we accepted a motion introduced by the Conservatives to add witnesses to the list.
We know that we could also have issued a list to restore the balance. We could have called for the unions, since we heard from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, then all the list of chambers of commerce of the provinces. We could have done the same with the Canada Labour Congress. We heard it and we could have called for all its affiliate organizations. There would have been a lot of people!
I contend that we should take Bill C-257 in its present form, as it was referred to us by the House, examine it clause by clause and responsibly conduct the evaluation and analysis with which we are required to proceed. That means that we will also examine the matter of essential services.
Are we going to shirk a responsibility that is ours by assigning it to someone else? That would be irresponsible. Ultimately, we could draw certain conclusions, but once the clause-by-clause consideration is done. At the end, we might find ourselves with a clause that is really the subject of special concerns. Everyone could then say that we can't find our way and that we should assign the study to someone else, but we have to know what it is about. We can't assign the whole thing to someone else.
I'm going to oppose this motion. I'll also say that I'm going to oppose any practice of this kind, which consists in introducing a makeshift motion, taking everyone by surprise, and trying to negotiate it with an opposition party. Mr. Chair, this is intolerable.