Bill C-33 (Historical)

Protecting Air Service Act

An Act to provide for the continuation and resumption of air service operations

This enactment provides for the continuation and resumption of air service operations and imposes a final arbitration selection process to resolve matters remaining in dispute between the parties.

Protecting Air Service Act

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Halton, ON]

Mr. Chair, I thank the hon. member for his question because that really is the focus of the bill. It is about putting the Canadian public interest first.

As we indicated to Canadians in the last election, we were the ones who would look after the economy, who understood the economic recovery and understood the means we needed use in order to ensure that the economy would continue to prosper. That is why we were elected, that is why we are here in the House and that is exactly why we are here for this legislation.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

Mr. Chair, this proceeding is being broadcast across the country on CPAC right now. Many Canadians, as they are flipping channels, might come across this and wonder why the House is sitting at this late hour. They might want to know a bit about the process. That is kind of a critical point for Canadians to understand.

Could the Minister of Labour please explain the necessity to expedite the passage of the bill?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Halton, ON]

Mr. Chair, we are treating this matter with great urgency. The facts are very simple. The economic impact of a work stoppage at Air Canada would be grave on the national economy and, indeed, it is grave on the travelling public and on the businesses.

As I mentioned in my remarks, 26,000 employees, 250,000 other employees associated with the airline would also see themselves not having a job. This is why we need to act quickly to ensure that a work stoppage does not happen.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

Mr. Chair, it is interesting to hear the opposition parties say that a work stoppage right now would have absolutely no effect whatsoever on the economy. Time and time again we have heard the opposition members express that.

I want to talk about air cargo. Could the minister elaborate a bit on the impact that a work stoppage would have on the movement of air cargo around the country and what impact that might have on the Canadian economy?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Halton, ON]

Mr. Chair, that is an excellent point from the member.

With respect to air cargo, air transportation is a key component of global supply chains, especially for perishables and pharmaceutical products. It is important to note that Air Canada transports about $466 million worth of goods each and every year. It is actually 22% of domestic capacity and 49% of international capacity.

These things are extremely important for global logistics chains as well as our domestic ones. That is why it is important for us to act quickly. I ask the opposition to join us in moving the bill through the House.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

Mr. Chair, I am going to go back to my previous life. Before I was a member of Parliament, I worked for 11 years with the Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club. In my capacity during the last four years of that time, my role was of national accounts manager. My job was to sell advertising, a very significant part of my workload with the Oilers and a very significant part of the revenue the Oilers brought in.

In that capacity, many of the clients I dealt with were based in Toronto and I lived in Edmonton. A big part of my job was to fly to Toronto to talk with my clients, to give presentations and show them the things we were doing and why it was important for them to spend money with the Edmonton Oilers to advertise their products. Those things were absolutely critical to bring in revenue.

Could the minister speak to the importance of business travel in maintaining the strength of the Canadian economy?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Halton, ON]

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the opportunity to remind the House how important the comprehensive air services are that Air Canada provides. The services go to 59 Canadian large and small communities, 59 American and 60 international destinations, including Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America.

When we include ACE, Air Canada Express, which would also be affected in the work stoppage, that is over 80 destinations in Canada and the United States, as well as larger centres at off-peak times. On a daily basis, it is approximately 800 flights and combined with Air Canada it is over 1,100 flights a day, which are incredibly important to the travelling public and businesses in Canada.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

Mr. Chair, I want to get back to process. For Canadians watching this debate on television and wondering what the process is, what role has Labour Canada played throughout the negotiations of a new collective agreement among all the parties?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Halton, ON]

Mr. Chair, there are six bargaining units at Air Canada that we have been dealing with since I became minister in January 2010. Indeed, in all of them there was a very large amount of effort put in by the officials at Labour Canada, be it through either mediation or conciliation services, and in two of the cases we took extraordinary measures of appointing outside conciliators in order to help the process along. There is much expense, time and effort put into it because, quite frankly, at the end of the day avoiding an impasse and having to utilize valuable time in the House in order to pass legislation of such an extraordinary measure is one that we would like to avoid.

In fact, putting the work in at the beginning is the way we should be doing it. I am very proud of all the efforts we have put into this. Unfortunately, with all the labour that we have put into these files, it has not yielded results in these two cases and that is why we are moving to act today.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

Mr. Chair, given that the minister has referred a question on health and safety to the CIRB regarding both of these threatened work stoppages, why does the Minister of Labour feel that government action is necessary at this time?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Halton, ON]

Mr. Chair, we have asked the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to take a look at the issue of whether operations need to continue in a work stoppage. Simply put, the parties at the table did not do the analysis as to what the health and safety ramifications would be on the public interest.

As we have said throughout, we are here to act in the best interests of the public. That includes not only the economic and travelling portions of the public interest, but also health and safety. Quite frankly, there are communities that would not have service. There are 15 communities that definitely would not have service should Air Canada have a work stoppage. Those are communities that would need to have some kind of alternative air service that is not available to them, especially when it came to transporting passengers, cargo, pharmaceuticals or perishables to their home communities.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

Mr. Chair, tourism is also an important part of the Canadian economy. We are heading into March break when Canadian families are going to be travelling across the country to see other family members or maybe to visit some of the Canada's great tourist destinations at this beautiful time of the year.

Could the hon. minister comment on the impact of a work stoppage on tourism in Canada?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Halton, ON]

Mr. Chair, in speaking to the importance of the airlines, I have already mentioned the number of flights Air Canada has per day, including its affiliation with Air Canada Express. As well, we can draw from different examples around the world.

In October of this past year there was a grounding of the Qantas fleet in Australia. The Australian government referred the matter to its Fair Work Australia board, which is much like our CIRB. It found in that case, in a geography that is very similar to ours, the size of an airline that is very similar to ours, in a hub system that is very similar to ours, the impact on tourism was such that it was of economic significance. It did order the airline to commence operations again and stop the industrial action that was happening with respect to strikes by pilots and the shutting down of the airline by the airline itself.

It was a very similar situation to what we have here today with a work stoppage being threatened by both a lockout by management and a strike by employees. We take the matter seriously and that is why we are moving on it.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

Mr. Chair, the argument from the other side is that no one will be affected by this. It is estimated that 70,000 passengers per day will be affected or displaced by a work stoppage at Air Canada. The number of affected passengers will increase for each day the work stoppage continues.

I would like to ask the minister to comment on the opposition comments that nobody will be affected by this and that it will have absolutely no impact whatsoever on the Canadian economy.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Halton, ON]

Mr. Chair, Air Canada, when Air Canada Express is included, carries on average about 103,000 passengers per day and that is easily one million passengers. That is a lot of people who are flying either because of travel for leisure or business. Every one of those people would have to make alternate arrangements.

The reality of the matter is that no matter how great an airline WestJet is, no matter how great an airline Porter is, and the great services those airlines provide, Air Canada is 3.7 times bigger than its nearest domestic competitor in the version of WestJet. Other air carriers do not have the capacity to carry the passengers that would be displaced.

A work stoppage would have an immediate effect. Passengers would be stranded. Stories in the press would be about those individuals and families who would be stranded in a place that is not their home. That is why we are acting in the best interests of the Canadian public, and not picking a side at the table as the opposition is doing with respect to the unions.