Thank you very much.
It was important to us to hear your testimony today, despite a rather fragmented schedule. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for being here. I especially want to thank Mr. Mortimer, who has travelled from British Columbia.
We are hearing nothing but praise from the unions as regards the Liberals. It is interesting. That said, this bill, which is sponsored by Mr. Brison, the Treasury Board President, comes with a price tag of a billion dollars. I have to say that something is off. I really liked what Mr. Roberts said in this regard about public servants deserving respect. He is quite right. I was a public servant myself for four years.
The fact remains, however, that we also have to think of taxpayers.
In this regard, I have a question for you, Mr. Mortimer. You talked about absenteeism. Right now, people are taking a record number of sick days in the federal public service. There is a problem. Unfortunately, there is nothing in this bill that addresses this problem in the federal public service. The number of sick days taken is higher than in the private sector. There was an article in Maclean's magazine about this problem, which could get worse. The numbers are essentially the same: there is a loss of 13.5 days per year. That is not comparable to what we see in the private sector.
We have before us a bill that I consider partisan. It removes rights from the employer, the government, particularly as regards essential services and the negotiation of collective agreements. I would like you to tell us about the impact this bill will have on taxpayers, and also on the private sector. A bill of this kind will tip the balance in favour of unions during negotiations.