Mr. Chair, if we got started on curse words in French, we’d be here forever. I won't list them all because it would take longer than five minutes. That being said, I'm having a hell of a time with what's going on here today. I think people are trying to dodge the issue. The Conservatives say that they really do care. They say that they care about the fact that you have lost your jobs. The problem is that they are not only killing an industry, but they are also completely disregarding the spirit of the law. The problem is Air Canada. Aveos screwed you, but the problem is still Air Canada.
If I were from Windsor, sure I’d be happy to know that there’s going to be a new hangar that will hire non-unionized workers. As a guy from Montreal, I’m seeing 2,600 jobs lost. And I’m dealing with a government that doesn’t care about the law and doesn’t care about making Air Canada comply with the law. We've got to wake up. This is not just about figuring out what to do with Aveos. I want to protect your jobs and make sure that when a law goes through Parliament, it actually gets enforced. That takes commitment from politicians and the courts. That's why I find that you're soft-pedalling the issue this morning. I mean that with all due respect.
Obviously, we have to protect jobs. We have to find a way to help the employees find work because some of them have not been paid in three weeks. But the union’s primary responsibility is to take the company to court to defend the workers' interests. Mayors and governments of the cities and provinces affected by this have said that they will support you. I hope that you will work on this, get it done and stop beating around the bush.
We know that the Minister of Transport doesn’t want to do his job because the real Minister of Transport is the Prime Minister, who uses the private sector whenever it suits him. He wants to trample on your rights as workers by imposing big-stick legislation to force people back to work. In the meantime, you are still out of a job.
It's the same thing for Winnipeg. We also have to work for the people in Vancouver. Within the law, the spirit of the law, it's about protecting Mississauga, Montreal, and Winnipeg. So we have to do something about that.
So what's your one-two punch?
I hope that the minister, of course, will be able to give you a hand with employment insurance. That also reminds me that there are a lot of people who didn't receive their cheques because there are not enough officials there to work out the process, so you can get the cheques. That's another issue; that's another problem.
Mr. Atkinson, since you're the big cheese today of the union, what do you intend to do? I want the politicians to do their jobs. Of course we won't have a report, but this is televised, so somebody will be listening. But at the same time, what's your timeframe to sue Air Canada?