Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is showing the traditional confusion of the Bloc with respect to government policy which has been in place for somewhat over a year.
The policy is this. One or other of the major airlines is assigned the right to exploit a new route. If within the time given, in this case 365 days, it fails to establish the service, the option then goes to another airline. In very rare cases the other airline is neither Air Canada nor Canadian International. Basically it is automatic, it goes to the other airline.
The hon. member is simply confused in this respect. He is confused in thinking that the established policy of how new routes are divided, the so-called use it or lose it policy, requires the intervention of a minister in any substantial way.
As I indicated last week, essentially it is automatic. It is a minor question of issuing a letter. There is a minor question of determining whether one of the many other smaller airlines might be considered, but basically it goes to either Air Canada or Canadian International.