Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks for agreeing to start the discussion on this with a motion that we can work with.
I agreed to this meeting because of a couple of things—my interest in whistle-blowers and in protecting them. I've talked to some of the former employees there. We had the minister at the ethics committee yesterday. My primary concern in all of this is obviously due process, but the position I've also taken is to provide the workers who are still there with equivalent public service jobs if they want to leave that agency and go on a lateral move somewhere else within the civil service. It's something that we can do to protect them. It probably would also ensure that the process the minister is going through right now is thorough.
For me, it's about protecting those families who are there. That's the bottom line. The agency gets away from an environment that actually has a union. The agency gets away from greater accountability to protect the public servants. Even though their salaries are virtually 100% paid by the public, they are not protected in the same way. I see this as an entire issue over social justice and the abuse of workers. Until we actually have those guarantees in place, I'm prepared to meet as much as possible to continue to bring that message forward on a constant basis. I'll be a broken record on that, because I think it is something we can control.
When I'm talking to the different people who were there and who have moved on, I can tell in their voices the sincerity and the concern. In terms of mental health, some of them have gone on stress leave. There are not enough employees there for them to hide if they're one of the ones coming forward. I know that a third party lawyer has been engaged, but I don't necessarily trust that process either.
I'll conclude by supporting this motion until the government provides some assurances to those workers beyond what the minister is saying right now. I repeatedly went after the same thing through three exchanges. I'm still not satisfied. Those people have to live through this process. The longer it goes on...it's problematic. If this parliamentary system right now will expedite that, then I think that's better for them than actually going through a long-drawn-out process if they do want to get out of this environment and they have no choice.
That's the preference that I have and that's the position that I have at this time. Thank you very much for your time and for bringing this forward.