Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Burnaby—New Westminster for his very fulsome question. My quick response would be that maybe the Conservative government members have become as arrogant as the former Liberal government so quickly that they forget the interests of the people they represent.
As for that list the member read off, whether it is the pine beetle infestation in British Columbia, the impact of the softwood lumber agreement and the incredible impact it has had on workers' lives, or this back to work legislation and the impact of rail safety, all of these are issues that affect people in their working lives and affect their families.
One of the issues in this labour dispute and strike is the health and safety issue. The hours of work affect not only the workers on the railroad but affect their families too. This is about quality of life, something we hear that the Conservatives believe in supporting. They seem to have forgotten that in British Columbia, as they have across the country.
Again I think it begs the question as to why this legislation really has been brought in. Is it for a political agenda? Is it to clear the political deck so that the Conservatives can make whatever decision they want if they decide to go for an election?
This certainly is not being done in the interests of workers, neither those at CN nor any other workers. It is not being done in the interests of British Columbia, because if that were the government's motivation it would have invested its resources, its influence and its political work in making that process work.
Instead, what we seen is that at the earliest opportunity Conservatives opted out to bring in back to work legislation. That is a sign of their failure and their lack of responsibility in making sure that a process that exists could work.
I would agree with the member that the Conservative government has completely let down British Columbians and certainly has let down these workers who are doing their best to make these processes work and to get their legitimate issues addressed. The government has let them down.