Madam Speaker, I am very surprised but not unhappy that the member for Kootenay West-Revelstoke keeps giving us the opportunity to explain how far from reality the member's proposals are.
Let us talk about his October 7 letter to the Minister of Transport. In his opening paragraph, he states that all Canadians will be stripped of their rights to due process by this statute.
The Ministers of Transport and Justice have been scrupulous in ensuring that this legislation is specific to one particular deal, the Pearson international deal.
It has only been one year since the people of the Toronto region expressed their opinion on this deal quite vocally and ultimately quite democratically. They do not want to be tied to this deal. I believe they know very well that their rights are being protected by the government.
While we are truly looking to limit access to the courts by the developers, in case the member has not noticed the consortium is now in court. Even the majority in the other place agreed that members of the consortium could go to court after passage of Bill C-22 if they refused to believe we have the constitutional right to take back Pearson airport in the public interest of Canadians.
I cannot let the hon. member get away with saying they are not asking for any money in their present court case. They are asking for third party indemnity. That means they want to be covered for a lot of money. It is that simple.
The Minister of Transport has most ably presented the costs that the members of the consortium want by way of compensation. They have already submitted claims for lost profits for over $400 million. Those were the claims they submitted when we only asked them to provide their actual expenses. I cannot wait to see what they submit when they want to present their final bills.
I am absolutely amazed that the Reform Party member continues to persist in making this his issue when he knows that the people of Canada support the government on it.