Mr. Speaker, I wish I could understand what Reformers have in mind with such a proposal. I have been trying all morning to figure out their real motives. Are they defending the interests of a private firm or their own interests on the eve of a byelection? This is what we must ask ourselves. After all, the basis of their argument is that the federal government should get involved in a dispute between two private firms that signed a contract a few years ago and concerning which one of them is not happy.
This is like asking the federal government to step in between two hockey clubs because, two years after trading Lindros, one of them is not happy and feels it got shortchanged. This is almost the same thing.
Are we going to ask the federal government to get involved every time a private contract is signed by two major companies but one of them suddenly decides that it suffered a prejudice because it feels it could have made greater profits by acting differently or by agreeing to different conditions?
When one signs a contract, one must behave like an adult. Those who represented Churchill Falls when the contract was signed behaved like adults, as did those who represented Hydro-Quebec. There is a duly signed contract between two private firms. I do not see why we would want to set a precedent and ask the federal government to get involved, except to make voters believe that the Reform Party is the one that understands them best, the one with the solution to their economic woes of the last few years.
The best thing that voters can do is to wonder if they should put their trust in the Reform Party, given that, in the eyes of that party, an agreement is no assurance for the future.