Mr. Speaker, I agree with the previous speaker that certainly Pearson airport is the hub of the Canadian airline industry. Certainly the building of an airline and a successful transportation network within Canada is dependent on the hub and spoke concept. It is perhaps the single most important airport. As I have mentioned, it is certainly an important part of the infrastructure of Ontario and of Canada as a whole. Therefore the outcome of any bill or action surrounding the Pearson airport is of utmost importance to Canadians.
With this in mind Pearson airport must be a cornerstone in this whole planning process. Pearson International Airport operations generate some $2 billion in personal income, $4 billion in business revenues and $700 million in tax revenue.
Pearson accounts for one-third of Canada's domestic flights and 50 per cent of all international and transborder traffic.
We all agree that the deal that was struck between the Conservative government and Pearson Development Corporation last year was unacceptable. This is an obvious example of the old style of doing business. We agree with the Minister of Transport's statement earlier today that the deal should quashed because of backroom dealings and other unscrupulous behaviour. If the minister is correct and someone other than the government of the day was responsible for the Pearson deal, the current government must not honour the contract. If the contract was influenced unduly by lobbyists, again the current government must not honour that contract.
I believe these facts to be true. For this reason I feel that it is a wise move for the current government to cancel this deal. To legislate an end to the fiasco and hopefully open the process of revamping Pearson airport is acceptable to me and my party. What is not acceptable is the clause of Bill C-22 which allows the minister to negotiate the payment of out of pocket expenses to the contractors. The Prime Minister promised before the election that he would cancel the entire deal. He has cancelled part of the deal, but now the hon. Minister of Transport is going
to compensate those individuals who were involved in this sordid affair. The minister has done nothing to remove the secrecy surrounding this deal that began with the previous government.
Greg Weston of the Ottawa Citizen said in his March 9 column: ``The Grits have managed the remarkable feat of turning a highly suspicious and secretive Tory deal into a highly suspicious and secretive Liberal cancellation process. A secret inquiry followed by current secret compensation negotiations''. The government must not stop halfway on this issue by paying off those who were involved in this questionable affair. Quite simply, there should be no compensation whatsoever for anyone involved in this deal, period.
Many suspect excessive amounts of lobbying went on in the privatization of the Pearson airport, with both Liberal and Conservatives heavily involved. Key people include Charles Bronfman, Senator Leo Kolber, Herb Metcalfe, and many more. The list is some 50 people.
Liberals have appointed former provincial Liberal cabinet minister Robert Nixon and the Prime Minister's former law partner, Bob Wright, to lead the negotiations for compensation. The Liberal government with Liberal negotiators compensating Liberal backers is questionable at the very best.
What are the alternatives? This payoff of what has been reported could reach $40 million, could be funnelled back into Pearson directly. With the money that we will pay back for this deal we could do a lot of things in that airport. Many of those things have been mentioned earlier today.
We could help the airline industry, currently struggling to become more efficient and competitive in the international market. As just one other example, permit me to talk a little about the runway construction at Pearson and the many things that have to happen there.
The runway expansion is the most sensible, cost effective way to secure the future viability of Pearson International Airport. For example, the first runway that is required by the airport is a new crosswind runway and this is needed as soon as possible because it will help to eliminate around 50 per cent of all the delays at Pearson. These delays cost the Canadian traveller a great deal of money as planes circle and use large amounts of fuel.
There has already been some $30 million in preconstruction work invested in the north-south crosswind runway. A crosswind runway would greatly increase safety at Pearson airport. Recently pilots who fly into Pearson have cited the potential dangers of extreme crosswinds on the current runways.
Pearson could also use the $40 million the government is going to spend to buy off contractors to fund two east-west runways. That would raise Pearson to its optimum capacity and ensure the airport's place as an international hub.
Furthermore if this expansion does not occur traffic will soon have to divert away from Pearson airport. Currently there are no reasonable alternatives to expansion of Pearson. Moreover, attempts to divert traffic away from the Pearson hub will hurt the regional spoke communities. For many of these communities two-thirds of their traffic going to Pearson is connecting to another airport.
Finally these new runways can be built now without impeding any discussions on the future organizational structure of Pearson. Directing the money now slated to pay off contract expenses from the Pearson deal could be routed to runway expansion. It would create an estimated 2,500 construction jobs and up to 6,000 over the long term.
Therefore the bottom line is, like so many other decisions made by this government, the money that is to buy off a contractor could be put to good use in funding the expansion of one of Canada's most important pieces of public infrastructure, Pearson airport.
There are also international concerns which should be touched on. It has been reported in the Financial Post that one of those corporations seeking compensation is a Dutch government company called Schiphol.
Schiphol has filed a claim in Ontario court for $7.5 million in damages for loss of contract. The Dutch airport authority has expressed shock at Ottawa's willingness to use its power to pass laws to nullify a valid contract.
I am not suggesting that this government retract its stand on rejecting such a claim. However I do wonder out loud how this government will deal with a firm such as Schiphol which is non-political and has a good argument that it had nothing to do with Canadian political nepotism. Will it be compensated for out of pocket expenses? Will it be compensated for its original contract? What are the political and diplomatic ramifications of these international concerns?
What we want most is a transparent government, one which does not make behind the scenes and closed deals as is the example in the Pearson deal.