Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to the minister's speech. I am glad to say that at least in some of the preamble in the early part of the speech there were things I was very pleased to hear.
First, there is a recognition that Canada Post is actually doing a very good job in delivering unbelievable quantities of mail across the country. Productivity has increased. Mail delivery access to individual homes has increased 30% and profits are up to $112 million. Given there was an increase in productivity and an increase in profits, Canada Post Corporation saw fit to offer a reasonable wage increase during the negotiations.
My question to the minister would be how can the government justify in the legislation we are dealing with today the fact that the wage offer that will be bound in this legislation is actually lower than the wage offer Canada Post had offered its employees during the rounds of bargaining? Can we get a comment from the minister to that effect, please.