Thank you very much.
Mr. Minister, we have heard from a lot of witnesses, people who have spoken to this issue. Many colleagues as well, who travel with Air Canada, are very disappointed because they cannot get service in their own language. These are the facts.
We were told that VIA Rail, which had a similar problem, made huge progress, and that it will continue to work on providing service in both official languages throughout Canada. It would be wonderful if Air Canada did the same.
I would like to quote a brief paragraph. We met with Air Canada representatives last Tuesday. Ms. Louise-Hélène Sénécal, who is the Assistant General Counsel for Air Canada's Law Branch, said: “Of course, it is up to parliamentarians to present a bill to amend the Air Canada Public Participation Act”.
So we are not here to back you into a corner, but to encourage and to help you table a bill. But you are not giving us a specific date. You are not giving the committee any tools to help it do its job and move forward with this situation. What might happen is that Air Canada's subsidiaries may be broken up into smaller entities, and we would lose complete control of the situation. We know that Mr. Fraser does not have the power to change the situation either. The only way to do so—this is what Mr. Fraser told us—is to introduce a bill.
Mr. Minister, I would strongly encourage you to do so. In fact, I will ask the committee—if it's possible—I would ask for people to listen; I see that some of my colleagues are standing, Mr. Chairman—to make a motion.
This motion is to encourage you, Mr. Minister, and to help you make the case with the Prime Minister. The motion reads as follows:
The Standing Committee on Official Languages invites the Minister of Transportation to table a bill whereby the Official Languages Act would apply to Air Canada, its subsidiaries and partners, and that the bill be studied by the Standing Committee on Official Languages this spring.
I think we can unanimously support this motion, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Minister, a motion from the committee will probably help you make your case, and that way we will know that there is a bill coming this spring, and not in a year or two, when we will have to start this whole process all over again.
What do you say to that?