Mr. Chairman, I listened to the Minister of Labour make his comments and I feel compelled to say that when it comes to collective bargaining, I think it is fair to say that collective bargaining associated with the federal government has been a complete disaster over the last few years.
The Minister of Labour should stand up and apologize to the tens of thousands of employees that he dumped on to the streets over the last little while. To suggest that somehow this settlement reflects the process of collective bargaining in this country after having such an abysmal record is almost unbelievable.
However, having said that, I have to agree with my hon. friend from the Bloc who just said that if we are going to impose a settlement, for goodness sake, why wouldn't we impose the settlement that at least the postal corporation suggested in the first place? To go beneath that again is one more step toward humiliation of the people that work for the federal government, either directly through the crown corporation or their own employees.
It reveals the contempt that the Minister of Labour has for working people in this country.