Mr. Speaker, the problem is that the parliamentary secretary gets up and says “We have consulted” and “look, we have had all of these meetings.” The Conservatives do that every time they go to the Supreme Court or to the appeal court. They do the same thing. They say they have talked to them.
What happens when we dig into it is that we realize that the government has not consulted. It may have had a few drive-by meetings where it presented some of the things that it plans to do to a group of people. It could be a group of hunters and fishers, a group of environmentalists, or a group of school teachers or health care workers, and the government says it has consulted.
What often happens is that the government talks at people and it does not listen to them. It does not take into consideration the opinions and the interests of the people who are participating in that process. It has been found by the courts on numerous occasions—and not just with the Conservative government, but the Liberals adjacent—that the responsibility to consult is much greater than being able to show that there was an appointment one day.