Mr. Speaker, if the argument being put forward by the Bloc member were as simple as he stated, I might even support this motion when it came to a vote.
We discussed this at the Standing Committee on Transport. It was made very clear why the government would reject this motion. Motion No. 15, the only motion within this grouping, demonstrates again a total lack of understanding of the charging aspects of Bill C-20, in particular the charging aspect as it relates to DND services.
The Bloc motion tries to eliminate the exemption for Nav Canada's charges for aircraft operated under the authority of the Minister of Transport and for aircraft of a foreign state. Let us deal with the foreign state issue first. The exemption for foreign state aircraft is the least significant of the two. Bill C-20 reflects the fact that many states do not levy charges on state aircraft and in the interests of reciprocity, in the interests of symmetry the state aircraft of such countries should not be charged for Canadian air navigation services.
The Bloc should take great comfort in the fact that the bill leaves the door open for the governor in council to authorize charges on state aircraft of countries coming into Canada that charge Canadian state aircraft at the present time or in the future when they fly to those countries. I hope that would satisfy members opposite.
The more significant exemption being asked for is the one in respect of aircraft operated by the Minister of National Defence. Rather than an outright exemption, this is just an element of an arrangement between Nav Canada and the Minister of National Defence.
The arrangement recognizes that the minister is both a user and a provider of air navigation services. As a provider of services, the minister operates the air navigation services in designated military air space which includes the air space around military bases such as Comox, Cold Lake, Moose Jaw, Trenton, Bagotville, Goose Bay and others. At present the Minister of National Defence does not charge for any of these services.
The arrangement is for Nav Canada not to charge the Minister of National Defence's aircraft for the use of Nav Canada's services. In return, as compensation, the Minister of National Defence would allow Nav Canada to charge civilian users for air navigation services provided by the military. That means Nav Canada gives up some of its revenue in respect of services it provides and it gains some revenue from services provided by the Minister of National Defence.
Because the two amounts for all intents and purposes are just about the same, it is a good arrangement for both parties. In addition, the Department of National Defence avoids having to establish a whole separate billing and collection system for charges it would otherwise likely have to introduce for air navigation services provided by the military.
Because the two amounts are roughly equal, it is not correct to say that the exemption burdens civilian users with costs that should be borne by the Minister of National Defence, as outlined by members opposite. Users will also benefit from this arrangement by receiving only one invoice from Nav Canada, even when they use services provided by both the Minister of National Defence and Nav Canada.
This motion would completely destroy this arrangement. For the same reasons that we stated last week at the Standing Committee on Transport, we would reject this suggestion.