Mr. Speaker, I have been following this debate to some degree this morning.
I am a licensed private pilot. I recall very clearly the debate that raged around the use of French in air traffic navigation in Quebec which took place some years ago. Looking at it from an apolitical perspective it seemed to me it would made sense for persons in recreational flying in some aspects to be able to use unilingual French.
However when we talk about safety in the sky, the international language of communication in the air is English. We should not lose sight of the fact that in all parts of the world the international language of communication in the air is English. While it makes sense for persons who are unilingual French speaking, unilingual Russian speaking or unilingual whatever language, Swahili or Chinese, to speak in their language, the international language of aviation for safety purposes is English. It has nothing to with whether English is a better language or any other reason. It just got
started that way. There needs to be one common language in the air and it is English.
We have these natural tensions within our country and many people have sympathy for the fact that people working and living in French in Quebec who are unilingual have the right to live and work unilingually in Quebec. However, there are some circumstances in life which require preconditions. If one wants to be a brain surgeon one has to understand and learn brain surgery. If one is going to be a pilot one has to be able to operate on an international basis in English because that is the language. It has nothing to do with superiority or inferiority of any particular language or group.