We flatly disagree with the answer Ms. Sénécal gave. What she said is false.
Let's go back to 1988. I will quote two statements by people who were involved in drafting the act. First, Jim Hawkes said that "the employees' work environment, their benefits, their future, all of that is guaranteed".
So that is the first job guarantee.
Next, I will quote Mr. Mazankowski on the question of job guarantees. He said:
Some have suggested there should be further guarantees as to the level of employment at these Centres. May I simply remind the Committee that there are no such guarantees now, nor are there any existing guarantees concerning the existence of these major Centres in today’s Air Canada Act. So in effect, this legislation provides guarantees that did not exist before.
In 1988, those people told us that the jobs are guaranteed today.
As well, on the question of jobs, you have to understand that we don't have minimum employment levels, like in Montreal or other cities, but a guaranteed employment level. That means that if Air Canada is going well, the company buys more planes. If more planes are bought, more maintenance will be done, so the company needs more mechanics to do the maintenance. But if Air Canada is not going so well, the company buys fewer planes and so it needs fewer mechanics. That is why we talk about a level and not a minimum. The act is clear on that point, however. It is Air Canada employees that must do repairs on Air Canada planes, not employees in El Salvador. The repairs have to be done by Air Canada employees in Canada.