Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Minister, welcome to the committee.
Some days it's very difficult to listen to some of the questions the Conservatives ask, both here at the committee and in the House, when they pretend to support unionized workers.
One thing I'm aware of is history. Representing my constituents in the province of Ontario, I think back to the days of Mike Harris and the common sense revolution, when tens of thousands of unionized employees took to the streets of Ontario because he undermined the collective bargaining rights of those workers.
History also reminds me of, most recently, of Premier Ford's 1% wage cap on government employees. That, again, is legislation by a Conservative government that completely undermines the rights of unionized employees.
Of course, we don't have to look too far back in history to the Leader of the Opposition, who was in my community not too long ago as part of his “make Canada great again” tour, courting unionized employees and officials. There was no mention, of course, of two bills, Bill C-377 and Bill C-525, which are probably some of the most anti-union legislation that we've seen to date.
There's a common theme here with one party both at the provincial and federal levels. It's hard on days like today to listen to some of these questions when they pretend to stick up for unionized rights and employees.
Can I get your take on that?