Libya  Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to personally thank the military personnel and diplomats for their hard work in accomplishing the job that they have done so far. New Democrats supported the Canadian military mission and its extension in June in order to ensure that civilians were protected from the Gadhafi regime.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Mr. Speaker, the postal workers have been locked out. They are trying to be forced back to work. I would like my colleague to comment on that. Has she seen this before? How does she think they feel? This is similar to having a spouse thrown out by the other spouse and the police bringing the spouse back and saying he or she must be allowed to stay in the home.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Mr. Speaker, I would just like to touch base on the question that was just asked. The member was saying that there is a provision in there that would actually allow for collective bargaining to continue. I just want to ask my colleague, and I know he has looked at the bill, if he saw any incentives in there to allow for that collective agreement to go on.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to ask my colleague a question. She talked about standing up for our families and our rights. I think it is very important. But some have said people are complaining. Others said they wanted to fix a few problems. Personally, I would like to know whether my colleague thinks what we are doing today is a waste of time.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to reiterate to the member to take the padlocks off. The CEO is appointed by the government, just as senators are appointed by the government, and we can see what happens there. We just have to look at the legislation on climate change. I would say to my colleague that we are not advocating just for the postal workers today, but for every worker.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  I have not.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Mr. Speaker, it is a race to the bottom for the Conservatives, as I said in my speech. It is awful that they are picking sides. The Conservatives have been talking about the economy. If they are really worried about the economy, why are they giving big corporate tax cuts? They are looking to support their corporate tax cuts.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to once again speak on this critical issue. The workers of Canada Post have been locked out. That is right: they have been locked out. They are not on strike. They have been locked out. This is not a strike. The workers are “locked out”, a term should give us all nightmares.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Mr. Speaker, my colleague is exactly right. These people have been locked out and that is why Canadians are not getting their mail. Could my colleague could talk about the outrageous bonuses that the CEOs receive? The company wants to reduce the wages of the workers who are busting their backs out there and yet CEOs are getting big bonuses.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Madam Speaker, I listened intently to my colleague's comments, and I also listened to the question from the other side of the House. It is obvious that the other side of the House does not realize that the union is the members; the members own the union, and the union members are workers.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Excuse me, I did not mean to say her name. I apologize on that--

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  What I would say is that this government can come to its senses and remove that wage from its bill, and we will talk.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Mr. Speaker, as we indicated before during this debate, we are not going to show the government all of our cards at this point. We have indicated what we are willing--

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Mr. Speaker, as we have indicated, we have actually provided some information with respect to a hoist motion. If the government is willing to really negotiate and look at the wage rates, then we are certainly open to its suggestions and will continue down that road. Obviously the government is not willing to move at this point, and that is why we are still here today.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from my colleague, and she is absolutely right. The government is trying to impose a lower wage rate than what Canada Post actually wanted to give them, while the CEOs are actually making a pile of money. In 2010 it was $497,100, plus a 33% bonus.