First of all, I'd like to thank the Bloc for initiating this bill and the motion, and for their passionate concern about issues of competition. We of course all share the concern about the price of oil and gas. None of us is insulated to the concerns of our constituents, who are very concerned when they fill up a gas tank or are concerned about what's going to happen next winter with heating costs. It is something we share, in terms of our concern.
The Competition Act is a significant piece of legislation. It's a complex piece of legislation that deals with competition, not just in the oil and gas sector but throughout industry, and as such we need to be careful that in trying to solve one problem we are not creating more problems. We don't know at this point whether we would be or not. And while I am completely sympathetic to the goal of Madame Brunelle in taking action, I don't want to be limited to saying we can only examine and debate this bill for one day.
I would be open to an amendment that, while it expresses urgency, allows some flexibility in the clause-by-clause examination of this bill and says that once the examination is completed, there would be a report to the House.
I don't want to say that I disagree with the intent; I just don't want to be in a position whereby, in saying we can only examine a complex bill and a complex law for one day, somehow we're opposed to examining and taking action on oil and gas prices. It's not so.
So I would welcome an amendment by the Bloc to give us a bit of flexibility in looking at this bill, with a view to achieving the same goal, but not tying our hands behind our backs and perhaps creating problems that at this point we can't anticipate.