Mr. Speaker, with respect to Bill C-20, I would like to begin by pointing out the scope of its proposed reforms.
Air navigation services are delivered via seven regional control centres. There are 44 control towers and 86 flight information stations. It is important to point out the human element: 6,400 people are currently involved in supporting the air navigation system.
There is a very general agreement in favour of commercialization, and we too are in favour. It was recommended by independent studies, a departmental task force and the October 1992 Royal Commission on National Passenger Transportation, and supported by those working in the field, air carriers, private operators, the air controllers' union and so on.
I shall begin with a word about the corporation created by the bill. The bill provides the framework for handing over Transport Canada's civil air navigation services to NAV CANADA, a not for profit corporation incorporated under Part II of the Canada Corporations Act. This is a follow up to the agreement in principle signed December 8, 1995 by Transport Canada and NAV CANADA, selling the air navigation system for $1.5 billion.
The fact that this corporation will be one of a kind places it in a monopoly situation of concern to us. The federal government will need to monitor its performance, but abuse of monopolistic power must be avoided.
The new corporation must ensure that those with little if any representation on the board, such as the small carriers or the general aviation sector, are not discriminated against. New companies must not be at a disadvantage either. It would appear at first glance that NAV CANADA has not respected the wishes of the small carriers, for only the big ones are represented on the board. There is, for instance, no representation of the Association québécoise des transporteurs aériens.
In committee we will be proposing amendments relating to better safeguards against arbitrary power and to maintaining services to outlying areas.
Where safety is concerned, Transport Canada has established security regulations and standards that will apply to the new corporation, and operations will be monitored to ensure compliance. It would be important, however, on a more general level, to ensure that public safety takes priority over profits. The bill does not include any safety standards. It would be important to include in the preamble the point that safety must take precedence over profits, and that passenger safety will always come first, ahead of any commercial considerations, whenever the two are in conflict.
We must also ensure that those who will be designated to implement the legislation will not be chosen arbitrarily. We are told it will be established by the minister, but on whose recommendation? Nobody is saying. Who should be consulted? Whose advice should be taken into account? Nobody is saying. For our part, we want to be sure there will be no political patronage in the selection of employees and that the more active union leaders will not be left on the shelf because of their activity, and we will make amendments in this regard.
In addition, some changes will have to be made to the legislation in favour of remote areas, whose economic performance, naturally, could be considered less significant.
The minister can designate northern or remote services which will be given special treatment under the legislation. That is excellent, but we feel there must be a list first approved by the standing committee of the House, which will hold public hearings on this. Accordingly, small airports such as Sept-Îles or Rouyn-Noranda will be able to make representations if they need to to protect their interests. It would be just too easy for the new corporation to cut services for reasons of profitability in remote areas.
Still on the subject of remote areas, the legislation provides that the corporation may, despite rejection of the proposal by a provincial government, change or close northern or remote services. This is not acceptable. It must take the opinions of the provinces into account.
Big and small carriers do not share the same opinions on charges for air navigation services, as my colleague for Berthier-Montcalm pointed out a few minutes ago. Major carriers want the cost of overflights to be less than the cost of landing, and the small carriers want exactly the opposite. In view of the importance of regional transport in the regions and in Quebec, we cannot agree with the way the legislation deals with this.
On the other hand we agree with the principle in Part IV on employees. At first glance, there is no employer-employee problems. The working conditions will be the same as those in the public service for the life of the collective agreement, which terminates on a date set by regulation, as approved by cabinet.
However, with the closures anticipated and the cuts in service, there will probably be lay-offs in a few years. It would therefore be appropriate to have the union leaders appear before the committee, in order to get their opinion on the matter.
In conclusion, we agree with the legislation in principle and will support it if the amendments we will propose in the spirit I have just described are considered. Furthermore, we do not oppose its being sent to committee.