Mr. Chairman, there are a number of reasons why we have to be very careful.
First of all, in the original motion, which its mover has now asked be deferred to Wednesday, there is a serious flaw. It asks our committee to recommend that the government amend. First of all, it's Parliament that wishes to recommend the amendment of laws. Also, it says “as to remove Canada Post's exclusive privilege to deliver letter mail”. My understanding of the remailers was that the dilemma was not in the delivery but in the collecting.
That's one thing. The other thing is that he refers to the letter from my leader, Mr. Dion, as though we are in contradiction to it. We absolutely are not.
Yet he's absolutely right, we have here the ability to make up our own minds. I can't speak for others, but if he reads the letter carefully, he will realize that the leader at no time supported the weakening of the exclusive privilege. I will argue, Mr. Chairman, that if you look at Canada Post, currently there are private enterprises that help Canada Post deliver on its exclusive privilege in rural delivery, for instance. There's nothing preventing remailers from existing within the situation of Canada Post having its privilege and it being respected, as Mr. Jean would have argued a year ago in the House of Commons.
There are a number of factors here that have to be taken into consideration. If he wishes to quote letters from the leader, he's absolutely free to do so, but be prepared to hear some quotes from some of his colleagues around this very table. I didn't realize we were going to get into the substance of that. But tell me when you're ready, because we will. I think members will realize that all parties previously have understood, as the courts have, the link between the exclusive privilege and the universal obligation of service. We have to be careful about tampering with that.
That's what Mr. Fast is asking, and I think to defer without having had the benefit of the minister's response would be wrong. Let's get the minister's response. He promised a year ago that it would be within days. We're a year past that now, and we still haven't seen it. I'd like to see what the government has done on this issue in the last year before we give it carte blanche, or a blank cheque, which I am not in the habit of signing, Mr. Chairman.