Official Languages committee  The legal requirement is that the head office of the body corporate, of the corporation, of the company that is called ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. be in Montreal. There's already a legal requirement for Air Canada itself. The bill does not remove it. Air Canada, as an affiliate, must have its head office in Montreal.

Official Languages committee  The head office is the body corporate, the main office of the entity that is ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. That company, as you know, Mr. Carrier, does not operate an airline undertaking as such. It is a holding company that holds the shares and other interests that it has in all the affiliates we're discussing this morning.

Official Languages committee  That's a political question.

Official Languages committee  Even if the government wanted, it couldn't do so legally, once outside the constitutional limits of the Government of Canada's authority. You want to know whether it would be possible within those limits. The answer is yes.

Official Languages committee  It's impossible for me to give the committee a legal opinion. My role is to give opinions to the Government of Canada. That said, you raise a question of constitutional limits. From a constitutional standpoint, the airlines generally come under the authority of the Government of Canada.

Official Languages committee  Because...

Official Languages committee  Because the question whether an affiliate comes under the authority of the Parliament of Canada or not...

Official Languages committee  It seems to me that section 25, which I discussed in response to Mr. Godin's question, will have to be considered in each case, in the facts that you submit. Furthermore, it seems to me that, if that's the only way to buy a ticket, it's not a question... I don't what to speak hypothetically, but...

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chair, I'd like to give you a piece of information. The act requires that Air Canada comply with Part IV. If this bill went ahead, it would require Jazz to comply with Part IV. You must be aware of the fact that that part contains section 25 of the act, which states that, every time a federal institution—Air Canada or the affiliates covered—retains the services of a contractor or a third party that renders services for it, it has an obligation, whether that third party is subject to the act or not, to ensure that the service provided on its behalf is provided in both official languages.

Official Languages committee  Do you mean in a language of work context?

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chair, the principle of the bill is that, for a business to remain covered, it must, at some point, meet two criteria: it must belong to the Air Canada group, which is defined, and it must also be controlled by ACE Aviation Holdings Inc., which is the Air Canada's parent company and now trades on the Stock Exchange.

Official Languages committee  I wouldn't want to speculate on the subject of language of work, but I could undertake to answer your question. I'm not sure I know the answer and I don't want to mislead you. However, as the minister said, the purpose of the bill is to maintain the level of bilingualism that existed immediately before Air Canada was restructured, even though various affiliates were divided during the corporate restructuring, which lasted 18 months.

Official Languages committee  Then, Mr. Chair, I think it's important to know that, if an affiliate operates an undertaking that comes under the authority of the Parliament of Canada in respect of air services, that business will automatically be subject to the act. What I said in my previous testimony is that the question whether or not a business comes under the authority of the Parliament of Canada is a question of fact and a question of law.

Official Languages committee  From a purely technical and legal standpoint, I think that the bill before you for consideration is an attempt at covering everything that comes under the authority of the Parliament of Canada. That's the technical answer that I can give you. The limits are constitutional limits.

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chair, with regard to the first question, I'd like to say, with respect to the bill, that the member asking the question is absolutely right when he says that Air Canada Jazz isn't subject to all the provisions of the act. It's subsection 4 that states that Air Canada Jazz will be subject only to Part IV, concerning service to the public, like any future business that could provide air services.