Mr. Speaker, I agree with the hon. member. One wonders why the government is so anxious to quickly pass this bill, when it is so controversial. The more we talk about this legislation, the more issues are raised.
WestJet was mentioned, but the whole tourism industry is affected. Witnesses appeared before the Standing Committee on Finance to condemn Bill C-49 and the air transportation tax.They all said that it will have a disastrous impact on their industry. It is the same thing for regional carriers and small airports.
I have a question for the secretary of state. When he told us about the impact of that new tax, how could he state that it will have no or only insignificant effects and that our questions regarding this new transportation tax were totally ridiculous, as he did not have any impact study on the implementation of such a tax?
How can he be so sure when his comments are not based on anything?