House Chairperson, I would like to reply by first saying that it is clear the hon member has not fully heard the Deputy President's view. The Deputy President did not state that no public interest conditions should be imposed on the transaction.
Now, let's go to the question that's been raised by the hon member. All of our actions ultimately must arise from some legal basis. The Competitions Act, in section 12(a)(3), sets out a set of public considerations that must be applied to every merger. Section 18(1) of that same Act specifically provides that, in order to make representations on any grounds of public interest referred to in the section that I mentioned, the Minister of Economic Development may participate in merger proceedings before the Competition Commission, the Competition Tribunal, or the Competition Appeal Court. That is precisely what we have done. Thank you very much.
Vote No 29 - Energy: