Mr. Speaker, 25 years after passage of the Official Languages Act and 20 years after the debate on the use of French in air traffic control communications, French-language air traffic control services are still not available everywhere over the Quebec territory.
Airspace over the North Shore and the Magdalen Islands is covered by the Moncton control unit which offers services in English only; it takes eight to fifteen minutes to obtain services in French.
My question is for the Minister of Transport. Can the minister tell us why some regions of Quebec still do not have access to effective and fast air traffic control services in French and does he not agree that those regions would be better served by a control centre or unit offering bilingual services?