Madam Speaker, I appreciate the comments from the minister today, but I also listened to the press conference the minister gave with four other ministers last week, where he said that these are some of the most fundamental changes to the Competition Act that are being made. I want to focus on process. Why were these changes not made in budget 2022, when at that time the minister said that these are the most monumental changes being made to the Competition Act? Why did the government not fast-track the two opposition member bills, one from the NDP and one from the Conservative Party of Canada, that called for the elimination of the efficiency defence? We would have fast-tracked that right away.
How come this monumental legislation was not in this past budget or in the budget last year? How come it shows up in a government bill just after opposition members table the idea?