Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for being here this morning, minister. For the Francophone population, being able to use the official language of French is, I believe, extremely important. You have to understand the philosophy of this question. A citizen who chooses Air Canada, it seems to me, should be able to speak his or her language at any time and expect an answer in that language. The problem is that each of us has personally experienced a situation with Air Canada in which we were not served in our language. In my case, it was the last time I went to Winnipeg. Bilingual service was lacking, but there was also the fact that they couldn't provide us with a newspaper in French. They distributed all the papers in English, and there weren't any in French. So here we're talking about the philosophy of the business.
Air Canada doesn't pay attention to Francophones in providing its services. I understand that you told us we were here to talk about the bill. We're definitely going to discuss it in all its aspects, but it think it's important to understand what service to the public means.
Since I've been sitting on this committee, I've constantly received complaints from people who resent the lack of consideration when they use Air Canada's services. That's why it's important for us to examine all the ramifications of this bill, and I believe that should also be the government's concern, whatever that government may be. It's not because you are Conservatives that the question arises, but it should simply be a concern of the government to see that the citizens of this country can be served in their language.
Ms. Adam, the former Commissioner of Official Languages, compared Air Canada's service to a gruyère cheese. With the current provisions, the situation will remain the same. When you contact that kind of service, it's possible to speak French, but people answer you in English. But it's different if you contact Aeroplan. And yet the two are directly related.
My question is whether the government shares the view that all services should be offered to everyone in both official languages. Do you intend to take measures so that all Canadian citizens can have access to services in their language?