Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will be as brief as I can.
First of all, I find it out of order for us to be told by colleagues that we should not be moving amendments simply because we need to get this bill passed as quickly as possible. I don't believe arguing that any bill has been considered in the past and been heavily amended holds water—we've heard that before on this committee.
As a matter of fact, I heard Mr. Oliphant make exactly the same speech I made a few meetings ago about another private member's bill. We're now in another Parliament, and we have a duty as parliamentarians to consider the amendments that come before us. We have amendments before us from our colleague from the NDP, and I think we need to consider them and decide on each one on its own merits, not reject them as quickly as possible so we can get the bill through as soon as we can.
I applaud the fact that Ms. McPherson has taken the time to voice some of the concerns witnesses have brought to our attention with respect to this bill. I find it unfortunate that we seem to be divided today on a bill, or at least on an issue and the need to do something about it, when it is my understanding that we're all in complete agreement around this table.
So I will come back to the fact that our colleague from the NDP has taken care to listen and put into words the concerns that have been expressed to us. Of course, we can pretend that we've heard no criticism or dissenting views on this bill, but we all know that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, that's why it appears that the minister intends to introduce legislation on this issue himself, in accordance with the mandate letters he's received.
That is to say, the bill we have before us appears to be inadequate for a number of reasons that Ms. McPherson outlined a few minutes ago. Although I have a number of reservations about the fact that this particular amendment seeks to considerably broaden the range of businesses that would be covered by this bill, I must say that the intention behind the amendment seems perfectly acceptable. That's why I'm announcing to my colleagues that I will be voting in favour of it.
Thank you.