Mr. Speaker, I have great admiration for the member who just spoke and with whom I have worked for the past couple of years.
The member knows that I took very seriously the arguments he brought. I went back and spent a good deal of time with my colleague and others in looking at the parts of the bill we considered to be difficult. We looked at parts of the bill we considered would disadvantage several individuals. We put forward amendments to assist and to make the bill a far better bill.
The member also knows that it was not without deep consideration of all concerns: the hours, the dollars, the situations of people in various regions of the country, that I arrived at the point where I was satisfied that we were doing what would be in the best interests of all Canadians in every region by amending certain parts of the bill.