Mr. Speaker, Bill C-22 is part of the pendulum process which has become a tradition with successive governments. The Conservatives privatize, and the Liberals deprivatize. Each step costs the Treasury money and provides goodies for a few friends. The bill before the House today says that the Minister of Transport will play Santa Claus, but it does not offer any information on the
kind of management the government is planning for Pearson airport. Will it be a local authority? A crown corporation? The Department of Transport? Who knows!
Without wishing to take sides, I can say that the management of Montreal Airport by a local authority has proved satisfactory. Aéroports de Montréal is the name of the corporation which has been responsible for the management of Dorval and Mirabel since 1989.
Originally, we had the Société de promotion des aéroports de Montréal, also known as SOPRAM. This advisory body, created in 1987, consists of 21 members belonging to seven organizations in the community, including municipalities and chambers of commerce. Each organization delegates one elected representative, one permanent member and one person from the business community. The seven members of the business community constitute the Board of Directors.
For instance, among the seven organizations that are represented, we find the Corporation de promotion à Mirabelle, also known as COPAM, which represents the interests of the region north of the Rivière des Milles-Îles, where my riding is located. COPAM consists of representatives of development corporations, chambers of commerce, municipal counsellors, and so forth. Thus, the "Aéroports de Montréal" corporation, the ADM, is the leader, at the top of a pyramid where the base is largely made up of all decision-makers and development officers of the sector. That original structure ensures perfect representativeness of the board of directors and the integration of regional development issues into the organisation's objectives.
There is also a local airport authority in Vancouver and Calgary. Some good minds think that the same formula could apply to ports, the port of Montreal among others.
ADM must however deal with the major problem of the two Montreal airports, Dorval and Mirabel. There is no rapid link between the two that would ensure quick transit for passengers and freight. Quebec freeway 13 which was supposed to be the main link was never completed; it is still 13 kilometres short.
In March 1988, Quebec and Ottawa had agreed to share the costs of completing the freeway, which came to a total of $78 million at that time. With a bit of nostalgia I read yesterday an article which appeared during those days in the Voix des Mille-Îles , a regional paper.
It said:
All the members of Parliament of our region were thrilled at things moving again on that project because the completion of the freeway will no doubt have positive impacts on the regional economy.
I stop here the reference to that 1988 article. In any case, since then, nothing has happened, Mr. Speaker, absolutely nothing. It still takes 40 minutes to go from Dorval to Mirabel on four different highways and freeways. This is what humorists call cost-effective federalism.
In spite of this handicap, last year, ADM made an estimated net profit of around $25 million. The company accounts for 43,000 direct and indirect jobs. The economic spin-offs are $2.73 billion.
Spurred on by this example, and in spite of the recession, regional dynamism has led to the creation of new industries and new jobs. Given the present sad state of the economy, this is nothing short of remarkable. One of these new industries is a fencing company, Bolar Inc.; its president, Mr. Lazare, listed Mirabel International Airport as one of the factors which weighed in favour of locating in the Blainville industrial park, just a few minutes from Mirabel.
Of course, industries involved with air transportation are well advised to locate near a major airport. Cases in point are Aerospace Welding, a specialist in the production of engine parts and exhaust systems, and the well-known Air Transat, which are both situated in my riding, near Mirabel.
Light industries, such as high-tech firms, which are the leading edge of the economy, also seek to locate near well-managed airports. For instance, Dowty Aerospace manufactures electronic equipment in Mirabel. DLGL, which recently moved to Blainville, specializes in human resource management software. Teknor manufactures computer components in Boisbriand. Multimeg, also in Boisbriand, produces electronic controls. In Saint-Eustache, Électromed manufactures X-ray generators for hospitals in Paris and Strasbourg. Triton, a firm which produces electronic equipment, is also located in Saint-Eustache.
Other industries, which export most of their production, have moved there recently. For example, Lumec from Boisbriand which assembles lighting systems sells abroad most of its production. We could go on and on naming the companies which, with the help of development corporations, industry commissions and municipalities, have chosen to locate in our area because of its exceptional qualities, most notably the airports of Mirabel and Dorval.
However, an international airport is also dependent on other things, and its development, and the development of the surrounding area, is tied to the air route policy of the government. In this regard we are not much favoured.
Can we expect that once the government has dealt with the Conservative legacy, it will move to give the country an air transport policy?
The other countries did not stay idle. Well aware of the growing importance of the quality of the airline network for the competitiveness of a country, the United States began to build super-airports. In Europe, just to give you an example, the Dutch airport of Schipol is going to undergo a remarkable structure development project which will enable it to become one of the most important transportation hubs in the world. Meanwhile, we are quietly debating deprivatization.
That incredible lack of vision of the government, its stubborn determination to remain down-to-earth in the development of policies can be felt in the railroad sector. These days, England and France are celebrating, in euphoria, the opening of the railway tunnel linking them together. England and Belgium are starting to build the high-speed trains that will link them to that tunnel. In the United States, Amtrak is getting new equipment and four HSTs are under review or under construction. And what are we doing meanwhile?
Our government is reviewing with solicitude the umpteenth study on the implementation of a HST in the Quebec-Windsor corridor that might create 120 000 jobs for many years. One can measure its high level of creativity by looking at its infrastructure program which is necessary, of course, but which is not likely to make Canada one of the most outstanding and innovative countries in the world at the end of this century.
Bill C-22 is perfectly in line with the wheeling and dealing policy which lacks grandeur and vision and which is the earmark of this government. I will vote against this bill.