Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Lennox, you let it slip that English-speaking Quebeckers are having problems in Quebec. There is an excellent document that you should read: the report of the Commissioner of Official Languages. On page 93, it states that one in two employees at Montreal airport actually offers bilingual service actively, or 47%. In Toronto, the percentage is 2.7%: one employee out of 33, or out of 50, offer bilingual service actively. So don't compare the situation of Franco-Ontarians with that of English-speaking Quebeckers because you aren't really in your field. You should stick to making Toronto a place where every francophone, Canadian or Quebecker, can feel comfortable going and receiving service in French.
In Vancouver, Ms. Moore, I would like you to know that the percentage, according to the report of the Commissioner of Official Languages, is 0.0%. You don't need a doctorate to actively offer bilingual service; it's “Hello, bonjour.” You're telling me that people have been doing that for some time, that they have learned. It's about time. So much the better; it's improving. However, I hope that you refer them to people who speak French.
At Ottawa Airport in October, I was asked, “Don't you speak any English?” That was CATSA, I admit, but nevertheless there was the old triangle stating “English/Français”. There were young people there, a man and a woman, and another, and they called the security officers. And yet it wasn't complicated. It isn't true that I was taking an extra step if I didn't get service in French: it's a right. So we still have to fight, with boxing gloves on. You experienced the situation as a Franco-Columbian, so you know. I've lived in Saskatchewan. I'm originally Franco-Ontarian, and, as a Quebecker, I still have the same job to do. There's nothing official. Institutions like yours should be allies. It's too bad, but I don't sense that.
Ladies and gentlemen from the airports, you have the long end of the stick. When a passenger arrives at your airport, you can deny him access to his flight, you can search him, and rightly so. The law is on your side and, in view of all the paranoia that there can be internationally, as though we were all bad guys, from the outset, before boarding an aircraft, you can do a lot of things. If you also put pressure on francophones, if we don't even feel at home in an airport and get the impression that the trip is starting there, you see all the difficulty involved in the situation. And that comes as much from the security people as from franchisees, once you're in the aircraft, or when announcements are made in French, or not, depending on the approach.
Telling us that a lot of new Canadians who were born elsewhere are working in Canada and don't understand French isn't a good answer. Active offer is simple. You just have to be able to say, “Hello, bonjour” and, if passengers want to be served in French, to refer them to a person who speaks French. This has to be an automatic reflex.
Going back to what Mr. Petit said, it's not true that we're going to single people out. However, we are going to criticize the situation, as we're doing now. Ms. Moore, you've occupied this specific position for four weeks. Although you've given the airport excellent service for 32 years, the fact nevertheless remains that this entire situation should have been resolved 300 weeks ago, as soon as the Olympic Games were awarded.
These are not good answers, when you tell us that English-speaking Quebeckers are suffering, that everything is being done and that you have been thinking about this for four weeks, or that it isn't your fault that new Canadians have arrived at Ottawa Airport. There is an act; there are rights. Make your recommendations to the federal government to get more money to train your staff. Do it. Come and see us; we'll work with you. The Official Languages Act has been around for 40 years. Assimilation has been going on in Canada since perhaps 1763, if you want to specify a date. So you have to come here with proactive measures and not tell us that you're in a bad way, stuck. It is your responsibility to be highly critical with us parliamentarians, and to tell us that what you need for the act to be complied with.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.