Mr. Chairman, you will agree however that some of the amendments seem more crucial than others and this one, since it deals with wages, seems important enough to warrant a fairly close examination.
I have been a member of this House for 13 years and I am stunned to see that a special bill could be introduced and include lower rates of pay than what the employer, Canada Post, has proposed during the negotiations. That is where the problem lies. It is unacceptable and I am not surprised to see my Liberal colleagues, Mr. Charbonneau, Mr. St-Julien, Mr. Coderre—we can name them since we are in committee of the whole—remain quiet on this issue and refrain from voting or speaking in support of the postal workers in their own ridings, to tell them “Yes, the crown corporation did made a proposal.” It was the lowest offer the management could come up with, but still, in the bill it introduced, the government took it away from the postal workers.
Earlier, Minister Gagliano said that he was being unbiased, but in the speech he just made, he spoke just like he would if he were president of Canada Post and he is taking a tougher stand than the president of Canada Post by offering less to the workers.
This is why this amendment, coupled with the NDP amendment, would be fair to the workers and still be in line with what Canada Post proposed during the negotiations. After all, the government cannot be allowed to cut even further after tampering with the bargaining process.