Mr. Speaker, my colleague's statements are nothing more than science fiction. If the government had been that interested in listening to employees, women's groups, and the people affected by the pay equity problem, we would clearly see that these people have not been heard. Unfortunately, once again, they are conducting bogus consultations. They pretend they were acting in people's best interests, but it was in the interests of the government. They do not care about people's best interests.
The people involved are all against this pay equity legislation and were very sorry to see it hidden within the budget. That prevented us from debating it properly and publicly, and from having an informed debate. Now, any debate on it was drowned out by the budget debate and we were not able to discuss it, and the government was in a hurry to see it passed by the Liberals, who had no choice but to accept it, in order to avoid an election. That is the reality.