Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, it is important to respect the bodies that were set up to support the parties. The Canada Industrial Relations Board is a body to which the parties can refer, when there is a dispute, to get an opinion, and that was done.
It was on Monday that the Canada Industrial Relations Board issued its decision. Immediately after that, a notice was sent to the parties, informing them that we could no longer wait, that the Canadian economy had been affected enough, that people were losing their jobs, and that businesses were not receiving the raw materials essential to their production and were not able to deliver their products. We also sent the mediator immediately.
Let us look back at the sequence of events. On Monday evening, the parties were notified. On Wednesday afternoon, the notice of motion is given in this House because, as we know, such a notice must be given. It is compulsory and it involves a 48 hour wait time. And now we are here this morning.
The day before yesterday, I asked the member for Bourassa whether the Liberal Party would support our efforts to pass a bill, so as to help CN Rail and its employees by putting an end to this strike. It is only this morning, barely a half-hour ago, that the member informed me that the Liberal Party would indeed support our initiative.
Why did it take so long to inform us, considering that we are a minority government and we cannot pass legislation without the opposition's support? It is in this context that we asked for their support.
I should add that I am grateful to get that support now, even though I would have preferred to get it a few days earlier.