Labour  Mr. Speaker, it is nice to know that if I were a Liberal member of Parliament I would have no voice, because, apparently, a private member's bill is illegitimate with the current government. Only a few months ago, each and every one of us in the House was elected by secret ballot, a hallmark of a Canadian democracy.

Labour  Mr. Speaker, piece by piece, the Liberal government is dismantling democracy in Canada. The first piece of legislation brought forward by the jobs minister is a bill to gut accountability and transparency for unions. The Liberal MPs have been arguing in the House that a secret ballot is somehow undemocratic and burdensome red tape.

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, provinces like Alberta have been hit hard by job losses and, as we have heard today, they are not going to get much help from the Liberal government. There is absolutely no plan to get Canadians back to work. There is absolutely no support for energy east. What Albertans are asking this Liberal government for is a commitment to energy east, a commitment to improve employment insurance to ensure that Albertans who have lost their jobs can take care of their families and keep their homes.

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, I found a couple of things the member said interesting. He had time to thank union leaders, but I did not hear him thank any union members in his riding. It might also be important to speak to them before he supports Bill C-4. We heard a lot from the member's Liberal colleagues today that for some reason a private member's bill is illegitimate, that it does not really mean anything, that if it does not come from a minister or if it is not a government bill then it really has no weight.

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, I am pleased the member explained a lot of why the Liberals put forward Bill C-4. He clarified a lot of the confusion. He was pretty clear that accountability and transparency was great as long as it was easy. However, as soon as it was a burden on the CRA or the unions, then there would be pull-back on that.

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, exactly. This is an opportunity for members of Parliament, no matter where they sit in this House, to speak. I do not think it should just be ministers who should have an opportunity to bring forward bills. The whole idea is that we are speaking for our residents, our constituents.

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, it is interesting that my colleague talks about the public trust and yet, when it comes time to vote for Bill C-4, I am sure he is going to vote for it and he will be voting against secret ballots for unions. How does he not see that is not in the public trust? He is saying that union members should not have the ability to have a secret ballot, and I just cannot believe that.

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's question. First, if he had actually listened to anything that was going on today, or maybe last Friday, my comments were that the first piece of legislation brought forward by the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour was this bill, which guts accountability and transparency of unions.

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, I do not know if he is saying that a secret ballot is bad. A secret ballot is a cornerstone of our democracy, a hallmark. If we look at any level of government, municipal, provincial, or federal, they are elected by secret ballot. Why would this be the one time that we say it is good for everything else in the Canadian political landscape except for unions, that that is the one spot where we should not allow them to have a secret ballot because for some reason that is undemocratic?

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, that is exactly right. I spoke about that in my speech. This is not just with this bill but a trend that we are seeing with the new Liberal government. The first act of business for the new Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs is to ignore the First Nations Financial Transparency Act.

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, I question whether that question has anything to do with Bill C-4. I think the Liberals are trying to avoid the fact that the vast majority of union members support the type of legislation we have in place.

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise in the House today to debate on Bill C-4. A lot of the things that have been discussed and debated today are of great concern to me, and I think many Canadians. We talked about things like a secret ballot being unnecessary red tape and going against the foundation of our democracy.

Employment  Mr. Speaker, this morning the jobs report was released. It does not look good for anyone under the Liberal government. Twenty-two thousand full-time jobs were lost in Alberta in January alone. Our unemployment rate in Alberta has reached 7.4%, the first time since 1988 that it has been higher than the Canadian average.

Canada Labour Code  Mr. Speaker, I want to ask my colleague a question regarding consultation on Bill C-4. The member talked about how none of the consultation happened before with Bill C-377 and Bill C-525. However, we did extensive consultation. We had many union members and union leaders come in at committee and Senate stage to talk about this.

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I was not sitting in my seat when you sat down, but I did move to my seat. When you started to read the motion, I was in my seat.