Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the hon. member on a fine speech that sets out the myriad significant and profound problems with the bill before us. We have heard that the bill is likely unconstitutional, not in one way but in a number of ways. We have heard that the bill, without any doubt whatsoever, violates international conventions and treaties to which Canada is signatory.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to follow up on the last question. The Conservatives seem to think it is justifiable to expect people to work for less money. Before the election, I noticed the Conservatives raised the severance pay for all of their high-level officials. They did this at a time when people in this country were facing a $40 billion deficit.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to pick up on the theme that my hon. colleague just raised. There are other ways to make sure that the mail gets moving and that would be to pick up on the union's request to Canada Post to end the lockout, let the workers go back to work under the current collective agreement and then continue bargaining a collective agreement.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Fundamentally, Mr. Speaker, this issue is about process. It is about how we, as a Parliament, adopt a policy that results in a process that allows parties to actually come to agreements together, which I think everybody on all sides of the House advocates is the best solution to any labour dispute.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Mr. Speaker, I follow up on a question from my hon. colleague from the Conservative side who referred to us as supporting the union as if the union is some sort of inanimate object divorced from the people who actually make it up. Having worked for a union for 16 years, I know that a union is nothing more than a collective grouping of the men and women who work at a particular place of employment.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  I hear some jeering from the other side. I do not know that they have spent any time in a union, but I spent 16 years of my life in one. What does my hon. colleague have to say about the men and women who make up the union? Does she share the opinion that the union is something to be disparaged as the Conservatives are doing?

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Madam Speaker, the real question is when are the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party going to actually respect their workers that they employ on the Hill here and voluntarily recognize the union to bargain for them to improve their conditions?

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Madam Speaker, there is a lot of cat-calling from the third party behind us, so I will elucidate for them. The collective agreement that we have expired in March, and we are currently in collective bargaining, if that makes any sense to them. I would just urge them to start collective bargaining with their own employees.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Madam Speaker, that is a valid question, and I will tell you what I heard from my constituents who are concerned about the economy. They want good jobs. That is what they want. They want good, family-sustaining jobs. They do not want jobs that have 18% lower wages than currently exist.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Madam Speaker, what my honourable colleague left out is the fact that Canada Post locked out the workers. He fails to mention that the union offered to go back to work and back to the bargaining table if the corporation agreed to operate under the expired collective agreement, and the corporation refused.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Madam Speaker, that is an excellent question. That is one of the reasons the NDP official opposition is taking this issue so seriously. There is a principle that what happens to one can happen to all. New Democrats believe it is very important on the official opposition side of the House that protecting the rights of workers in every situation is important.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Madam Speaker, I sit quietly while they speak and I would ask them to do the same. The right to bargain collectively has been talked about in this House as well. That right is guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is also guaranteed in international conventions to which this country is a signatory.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Madam Speaker, I would point out that I have been listening quietly to all of my colleagues who are talking and would ask that they extend the same courtesy to me when I am speaking and have decorum in the House of Commons. I want to quote from something which I think would be instructive for all of us here.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  We are talking about a union that is legally on strike. If the government thinks the union ought not to be on strike, then it should have the guts to go to court and challenge that.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise at this austere hour and speak on an issue that I think is of profound importance, not only to the people of this chamber, not only to the women and men who are affected by this legislation at Canada Post, but also to all Canadians who believe in fairness, who believe in human rights, and who want a country where we have a thriving middle class as the backbone of this economy.