Mr. Speaker, the Canadian aviation industry would explain to my hon. friend that the progress we have made in the last 14 or 15 months is unparalleled in Canadian aviation history.
We have been able to arrange a situation in which as of the end of this year every allocation of an air route in this country will be absolutely transparent. There will be conditions and criteria that allow for Canadian Airlines International and Air Canada to plan, to purchase aircraft, to lease aircraft, to do their marketing in an atmosphere of certainty unheard of in the aviation industry in Canada.
The proof of that is even before we announced the second designation based on the 300,000 passenger level, Air Canada had already indicated it was in the process of hiring nearly 1,000 new employees: pilots, attendants and people who work in maintenance and on ground activities.
I understand the hon. member's distaste for the progress we have been able to make. The airline industry in Canada is in better shape today than it has been for the last 20 years.