Mr. Royal Galipeau (Ottawa—Orléans, CPC): Mr. Speaker, last night the City of Ottawa and the Amalgamated Transit Union reached an agreement to finally end the strike and submit to arbitration.

Would the Minister of Transport and member for Ottawa West—Nepean please inform the House of the actions taken by parliamentarians to encourage an end to this crisis?

Hon. John Baird (Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, CPC): Mr. Speaker, we were all tremendously pleased that members of the House were able to work in a co-operative manner to get the buses back on the street, including the work of the Minister of Labour, the member for Ottawa—Vanier and the member for Ottawa Centre, as well as many other members.

To put together legislation that can be supported by all members of the House is good news and that was obviously one of the key reasons the city and the union came to an agreement on a proposal that had been refused just 48 hours before. The federal mediator had been pushing this idea since December 9. We are all pleased that this is over and it shows that we can work together in a spirit of co-operation.