Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thanks as well to you for coming to testify before the Industry Committee.
I must tell you that we of the Bloc Québécois are open to the idea of studying this Ericsson-Nortel transaction in committee. We want to know the impact of that transaction so we can determine whether it is beneficial for Quebec and whether Ericsson's commitments are indeed met. I assume that, in the context of that transaction, you have had to talk about projects and development, and we hope that Quebec receives its share.
I must also tell you that, at first glance, we are in favour of this transaction, but we want to know its conditions.
We are pleased to have learned that the legal proceedings have been conducted within a regular framework. I even read the comments by one judge who expressed a certain amount of enthusiasm over the way it had taken place. We are taking part in this committee meeting in order to carefully examine the guarantees given by Ericsson regarding the number of jobs retained in Quebec and the pension fund. We also want to ensure that the rules have been followed.
I'll give you an example of a situation that we had back home—I come from the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Quebec. Rio Tinto, a foreign company, acquired Alcan, a Canadian company that had its headquarters in Montreal. Our party had set certain conditions, but unfortunately the minister approved the transaction in haste. Even though we made those conditions known, the minister quickly short-circuited us and imposed no conditions on Rio Tinto. I therefore believe it's normal to have a discussion on this to ensure that Quebec receives its fair share.
Earlier my colleague talked about timetables, about the date of the end of negotiations. That timetable no doubt includes stages. When did you start the negotiations? Was there an important stage that occurred on a given date? When did you complete the negotiations? I know the date because you mentioned October 6, but I would nevertheless like you to give us an overall picture.