Sure. There's absolutely no.... Let me say this very clearly. I did say this in my presentation too. There's no question that this bill creates red tape. It creates costs. It requires a giant leap forward in accountability measures, in detailed reporting requirements for unions.
Let me quickly clarify our views on regulation and red tape. We have never come to government to suggest that there should be no red tape and no regulation. We are opposed to red tape, I suppose, but regulation is an appropriate measure for governments to take. Our only request is that the balance of the regulation be fair, that it be in keeping with the need for the regulatory intervention in the first place.
As I said earlier, our first choice with respect to this legislation would be the opportunity for workers in a unionized environment to choose whether to pay dues or not, as exists in every other country in the world save a couple, and only a few states now in the U.S. That would eliminate the need for any measure like the measure that was taken in Bill C-377, so our hope was that these additional measures would be balancing the unprecedented powers that unions have to force the unwilling to pay dues. That is the reason we were in support of this.
I recognize and fully believe that a large number of unionized employees are happy to pay union dues, but for those who aren't, we believe that either they should have the ability to opt out or at the very least additional disclosure should be given to them to allow that to happen. I don't deny any of those things you said. We continue to be huge champions for red tape and regulatory reduction, balanced of course with government's need to regulate in important areas of public policy, but I can square that circle pretty easily.