I have to agree with Mr. Watson. Of course we want the minister to act and to enforce the law. Maybe the law and order agenda of the Conservatives only applies in certain circumstances, and there's no mandatory minimum for the executives of Air Canada who apparently are violating the law.
But yesterday the minister very clearly said outside the House and in the House that this matter was now going to be before this committee. This committee needs to be able to report back to the House of Commons. To take that role away makes this a complete mockery of what the minister said was going to happen.
Yes, we would rather the minister had just acted, as the Minister of Labour did when Air Canada, a private corporation, had a situation whereby there might have been a lockout. We have immediate and rapid action with private corporations when it suits the government, but when it doesn't suit the government it's referred to a committee.
Now the government side of this committee is trying to tell us that when it suits them this committee will not be able to report back to the House. And that is.... Yes, perhaps procedurally there wasn't a motion from the House referring it to this committee, because the House wanted the minister to act. The minister made it very clear that he was not going to act until he had a report from this committee. If he's not going to get a report from this committee into the House of Commons, that will render this committee's deliberations completely useless, in my opinion.