There are still problems, and not just a few. There's something that I'm finding hard to accept this morning. I've been sitting on this committee since 1998. I am one of those people who recommended that the government should help Air Canada as a result of the transaction that was conducted between it and Canadian Airlines. However, today I can't accept the fact, for example, that Air Canada comes here and tells us that it would like to be viewed in the same way as other carriers.
When the private sector decided to buy Air Canada, which is a Crown corporation, it knew very well that it was subject to an act. When you buy the bag, the little pig is in the bag. Don't come and cry on our shoulder today. You're not moving us at all. You knew very well that Air Canada was subject to the Official Languages Act because it's a national carrier which has a mandate to cover the entire country. The private sector said it could carry out that mandate, that it was able to comply with the Official Languages Act, that it was going to make profits, that it was going to take care of Air Canada and Canadians, and today you've come to cry on our shoulders. I don't accept that at all. That excuse doesn't work with me, in any case, and I really want you to know it.
With respect to the card, the only people who can answer you are perhaps those leaving Halifax for Vancouver and who have read enRoute magazine. Although we look for it, we can't find it; we have trouble finding it. I made a recommendation in the letter I sent to Air Canada: why not insert it at the page of the president's report? That way, we would stop having to look for it everywhere in the magazine. We can't even find it. It used to be that, when you opened the pocket, there it was. Today it's hidden in enRoute magazine.
Even though you want congratulations from me, madam, you won't get any. I think the card has been hidden in a magazine that not everyone reads. As Mr. Nadeau was saying, when the flight attendant pointed out the seat pocket during the safety demonstration, at least the card was there and people saw it.
In St. John's, Newfoundland, I believe there are now a million passengers, but no service in French. Last weekend, I met with the francophone community in Labrador City—Mr. Nadeau was there as well. There was the parents committee, the arts committee and the artists. The entire francophone community had its annual meeting, and the answer to the question whether St. John's had had any service in French was no.
How can you tell us today that you are improving, whereas we know it's hard to get service in French even in Ottawa, the National Capital?
A few weeks ago, we congratulated VIA Rail. Why can that corporation find bilingual people to work for it? You said earlier, madam, that Air Canada only had Quebec to find those people? Have you tried looking in New Brunswick? One-third of the population there is francophone. What are you doing for promotion? I mean individually; I never heard you say anything about promotion in New Brunswick. What promotion are you doing in the communities—perhaps booths or something like that—to encourage young people to go to work for Air Canada? I'd like to know your point of view on that subject.