Mr. Speaker, the previous speaker outlined some of the concerns the finance committee had discovered. There was a lack of understanding even among parliamentarians. We have examples of where even agreements that were negotiated back in the early 1980s are now only starting to come into play.
This is much more complex and it smacks of political opportunism to have dealt with this in the budget in a way which was unilateral and without proper consultation. I hate to say it, but it appears it was a bit of payback. I do not believe that at a time of financial crisis, when the jobs of Canadians are at risk, businesses are going bankrupt and seniors are losing their stake for their retirement needs, et cetera, we should be dividing Canadians on issues like this. We should seek the necessary process to bring Canadians together.