Madam Speaker, indeed they are, and they are an incredibly important part of the economy, and CP Rail is as well, but the point is that these parties had the ability for the last eight to nine months to negotiate their own deals. They also had the ability in the past eight to nine months to recognize, if they were asking for difficult concessions at the table and they were not going to receive them, that they should find their own way to an arbitration process, to a mediation process. We in Labour Canada have offered both an extended mediation process and a conciliation process, and all these things have been rejected by CP Rail and by the workers.
The effect of the strike is ongoing, and the effect of the strike is on the national economy. It is the obligation of the government at this point to take a look at the greater good for the economy and the greater good for the national interest and to act appropriately. In this case, acting appropriately is introducing this legislation and having quick passage.