Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much, gentlemen, including Mr. Campbell at Mount Allison.
Mr. Chair, last week I wrote to the Parliamentary Budget Officer to ask the PBO to help us understand the ramifications of this five-point plan. I can see now that we're desperately going to need this insight from the PBO, because here's how it looks to I think most Canadians who are fair-minded and are watching this debate and tracking this.
On the one hand, you have Canada Post, which retains the Conference Board of Canada, a good institution located in my riding, and it does some tough, probative work analysis of how the corporation should move forward. On the other hand, CUPW and the postal workers hire the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and they get their blue chip panellists. Then we have a combat between two third party, blue chip panellist research institutions.
So I think most Canadians would want me to ask this question: why aren't you working together?
Mr. Lemelin, I take it from your testimony that the union is not at all in favour of the corporation's plan.
I take it from the previous testimony of the CEO of Canada Post that it is not at all in favour of the union's proposal for postal banking.
It's the 21st century. It's 2013. Why weren't you all convened into a room and asked to work together to try to come up with a plan whereby the postal workers and management could actually come out of this thing together, united?
Since when can we afford this kind of conflict in 2013 with a crown corporation? Does somebody care to reply on behalf of fair-minded Canadians who are watching?