Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, minister, for appearing before us this morning.
I was pleased to hear some of your comments on Air Canada's obligation to comply with bilingualism rules. This is a reality, all the more so when you live in rural areas where it is not easy to get services in your language.
Minister, I understood that you considered the question important and that you were going to support certain amendments designed to ensure that Air Canada respects official languages. Now I'd like to know whether you're going to require the same thing from your colleagues. I'll explain.
The enRoute magazine published by Air Canada is a bilingual publication and thus serves both Anglophone and Francophone clienteles. On page 87 of the October 2006 edition, there is a Government of Canada advertisement drafted in English only. That's a bit contradictory on the part of the government, which says it wants to ensure that Air Canada, its affiliates and all its components comply with the Official Languages Act. That same government publishes an advertisement drafted in only one language in a bilingual Air Canada magazine. The only thing bilingual in this half-page advertisement are the words “Gouvernement du Canada” and “Government of Canada”, which appear side by side.
Minister, don't you think that this kind of thing suggests a somewhat contradictory vision?