Before agreeing to let the House adjourn, I just wish to remind you and the population that, during the debate on this matter, the Minister of Labour refused to make the slightest concession allowing the workers not to disrupt rail transportation but to return to work and be heard. As even the conciliator admitted, the workers were not given the opportunity to be heard.
We asked the government to give the workers a chance to be heard by imposing a return to work. We agree that they should go back to work, but they should be given a chance to be heard without the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads. The Minister of Labour rejected this minimum demand by the
opposition, which would have allowed us to settle the whole dispute as early as Monday.
Do not forget that, instead of agreeing to or discussing this demand, the Minister of Labour and the government adopted a hammer-like approach in conducting parliamentary proceedings this week. This is not democracy week; it is a record for a new minister recently elected to this Parliament to flout parliamentary rules four times in order to speed up debate and settle this matter as quickly as possible without any respect whatsoever for those involved.
Furthermore, I would remind you that the Minister of Labour made a statement in this House which was quite surprising, coming as it did from a new member of Parliament who, we personally believed, wanted to advance labour relations. On March 22, the Minister of Labour said this:
Let us be realistic: Kruger is closed, while Bécancour, Alcan and Petromont are in the process of shutting down. Let us do something, Mr. Speaker.
That is what the Minister of Labour said. Are those the words of a serious-minded person? Who would make such alarmist remarks, when Alcan never ceased operating, Bécancour never shut down, Kruger was closed for no more than 24 hours and Petromont remained open? Is it the responsible thing to do for a government minister to use scare tactics to settle a dispute?