Thank you, Mr. Chair.
To the private member's bill, Mr. Calkins, certainly philosophically there are pieces that the government thinks are important and that reflect democratic principles. There are also some areas in which I think we will certainly be hearing from the witnesses and will be considering input from the witnesses.
I do have to make a comment, having seen the unionization certification and decertification process in work sites. I don't care whether it's the employer or the union, what I witnessed was a very important piece of the privacy of the ballot. The particular example I'm thinking of was in a health care setting. It was a very difficult choice for the workforce, and it was a very private choice. There were no pressure tactics from anyone, the employer or the union. There was a lot of peer pressure in terms of how some people were going to gain advantage by the change while others, because it was going to be seniority for chefs, were going to lose opportunity with the change.
Can you talk a little bit about not the union, not the employer, but how a secret ballot is important, perhaps for employee relations within the workforce?