It has not been a government entity for decades. Air Canada, although “Air Canada” is a crown-corporation-sounding name, is not a crown corporation. It's a private company, publicly traded, that has to adhere to all the rules just like anybody else does in Canada, any other airline in Canada, with the additional requirements that come under the Air Canada Public Participation Act. They know that. They respect that. When I speak to them about it, they have every intention of respecting the act. They want to adhere to it and understand the historical reasons behind it.
But you know, I have every faith. I don't buy into this story that Canadian workers can't compete. I've heard this in many industries, and I just don't think it's true. Time and again the Canadian workers have shown, whether they're unionized or not unionized, that they can go toe to toe with anybody.
Just down the road from my riding at Abbotsford Airport, for example, Conair has put in a maintenance facility. That maintenance facility services 737s from around the world--around the world. They come in there. They do everything from complete rebuilds to whatever work might be necessary. That shop is busy. It's so busy that the local university has put on a full stream to help train technicians to work at that shop. They say the only thing that's holding them back is...they build more and new facilities. The workers compete. They are getting great jobs. As you mentioned, they are great, well-paying jobs, and they woo business. They attract business from around the world to come to Canada to get their 737s...they're very good at 737s, and that's what they do.
I don't buy this argument that we should all run around like Chicken Little saying the sky is falling. We have a proven contractor in Aveos. You might want to bring them in; I don't know. I can't really speak to them and their business plan. It's a private company. But they've been very successful in Canada. They talked in their most recent web posting and press release about the fact that they've actually hired more people. They're not offloading; they're hiring more.
I think the future is very bright. I would be very surprised if Aveos says it's a doomsday scenario.