Mr. Speaker, Transport Canada recently privatized the ferry service between Saint John and Digby, Nova Scotia. I have spent the last few weeks trying to correct this deal gone bad for the former Marine Atlantic employees.
The winning bidder, Bay Ferries, let all 230 Marine Atlantic employees go on privatization. They were told to go home and wait for a phone call. Many of the employees were not hired back, even though they were fully qualified with 20-plus years of service.
I have tried unsuccessfully through the Department of Transport to get a copy of the final contract between Bay Ferries and the government. My access to information request was returned to me explaining that I needed to send an extra $100 because it would take the department 15 hours to find a copy of its own contract.
This is a stalling tactic and tells me the Minister of Transport has something to hide. If the minister has nothing to hide, I ask that he live up to the government's promise of more open government and table a copy of the contract in this House immediately.