Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I so move amendment NDP-21, as we race through at sixty seconds a clause—absolutely the most irresponsible action in Canadian parliamentary history.
But what do we do here, Mr. Chair? What we are doing is saying that basically the penalties are required to be paid on the day the time expires. So what we have are penalties on top of penalties—18 months' imprisonment, if you don't follow the strict letter of this draconian legislation—and there is no provision to provide any sort of respite or period of transition from the time the moneys are due.
Now the penalties, as we'll see later, are onerous—absolutely ridiculous. So the amendment basically states that those penalties or moneys would be required to be paid ninety days after the date on which the extended time expires—not immediately. There would be a period of ninety days for companies with serious cashflow difficulties, so that they would actually be able to meet—