In 2004, Air Canada withdrew from the protection of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. It had placed itself under the protection of that act in 2003, but in 2004, it got itself out of that situation financially with the help of a corporate structure that was extremely different from the one it had prior to that. Air Canada would in future be managed by a holding company, and some of its subsidiaries would be completely removed from its structure and become independent legal entities.
This led to a sudden deterioration of the linguistic rights that were previously guaranteed by section 10 of the act governing Air Canada. The commissioners, Ms. Adam, and then Mr. Fraser, as soon as he was appointed, made representations to the government, asking it to intervene so as to maintain the obligations that were in effect previously. Successive governments tabled bills, but none of them were passed and they all died on the order paper.