Thank you very much, Mrs. Gill. Congratulations for getting your bill to this stage.
First, I have to tell you that I once experienced a bankruptcy, with Nortel, in Ottawa. It was the biggest company in the national capital.
We learned that, in a bankruptcy, everyone loses. All the creditors lose. We sometimes think that bankers on the other side of the world end up as the big winners, but, in a bankruptcy, more money is owed to the creditors than is available to pay them.
Today, we are debating who will lose most in a bankruptcy. It is not always just a matter of good people against bad people.
With Nortel, for example, thousands of entrepreneurs were working on fixed contracts to provide services, including one plumbing company with 25 employees. When Nortel went bankrupt, those companies lost their money. They had done the work but they were not paid. Everyone had to go to court so that a judge could decide who would lose the most.
Under your bill, would the plumbing company with 25 employees that I just mentioned, be more of a priority, less of a priority, or the same priority as the people receiving a pension from the bankrupt company?