Excuse me, Mr. Speaker. I think I mentioned Hamilton East. There will probably be a member from another party after the byelection of June 17. I apologize to my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, whose riding is Hamilton West.
This legislative measure provides the legal framework to transfer Canada's air navigation services from Transport Canada to Nav Canada, a non profit corporation incorporated under part II of the Canada Corporations Act.
I want to say from the outset that the official opposition is not opposed to the sale of air navigation services to Nav Cananada, for an amount of $1.5 billion. However, we are most concerned about safety. Through the amendment moved by the hon. member for Kamouraska-Rivière-du-Loup, the Bloc Quebecois wants to ensure that the safety of passengers, airline personnel and the public has priority over all other considerations in business decisions made by Nav Canada.
Those interested in this privatisation of ANS will not be surprised by the position of the Bloc today. Right from the start, members knew where we stood. As the official opposition, we do not have a reputation for flip-flopping like the government, which changes its position at every whim of the electorate. The Bloc Quebecois has always had a consistent position on this matter.
Right from the start, official opposition members have tried to convince the government and Nav Canada that the security and the interest of the public should come before the commercial interest of Nav Canada. This will now be a private corporation which will not necessarily have the public interest as its top priority. Its first goal will be its own viability.
Unfortunately, in our capitalist system, commercial interest sometimes takes precedence over other considerations, particularly in air navigation security.
Amendments by the Bloc were discussed in committee and at report stage, and we tried to have this principle recognized. But the Liberal majority has stubbornly refused to move, and all our amendments have been rejected. Through the parliamentary secretary, this same Liberal majority wants to stifle our opposition and limit our excellent speeches.
Today, we are leading a final attack against this bill to make sure the security of passengers, of air carriers and of the general public take precedence over any effort to better serve private interests. But the government is turning a deaf ear.
On May 29, in the House, the Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Transport, the hon. member for Hamilton West, bluntly admitted that the sale of ANS to Nav Canada would bring in an amount of $1.5 billion to be applied to reduction of the federal deficit. That seemed to justify the swift passage of the bill.
The Bloc does not challenge that amount, but I raise question for your consideration, Mr. Speaker. Is the air navigation system really worth $1.5 billion? It is part of the Canadian heritage, the heritage of Quebec's and Canada's taxpayers. Is this a botched up sale, a garage sale, a bankruptcy sale? To some extent, taxpayers' money is being squandered. As far as we know, this air navigation control system was paid for with the taxes of Quebecers and Canadians.
Quebecers pay $30 billion in taxes to Canada every year. When the federal government invests money in our province, I hope it does not think it is giving us a gift. When senior citizens get their pension cheques with a maple leaf in the corner, they should not think the federal government is giving them a gift. This is their own money they are receiving.
The parliamentary secretary swept the safety issue under the rug when he said: "Safety will continue to have the highest priority for Transport Canada", said the parliamentary secretary and member for Hamilton West. "Safety regulations will be in place before ANS is transferred. Transport Canada will monitor and enforce compliance with these regulations as it does now in the case of airlines".
I continue to quote: "The Aeronautics Act which sets out the regulatory framework to maintain the safety and integrity of the aviation industry will continue to prevail. I point out to Bloc members, said the parliamentary secretary, that the Aeronautics Act will prevail over the ANS Act."
The parliamentary secretary answered "by the book", as we say back home. He urges us not to think that our safety is at risk. In other words, he implies that we tend to be a bit paranoid, since we always worry about accidents. But we have good reason to worry. I must tell the parliamentary secretary that he is known for his arrogance and his lack of understanding.
I recall vividly the day the Coalition to save the Quebec City bridge came here to present its brief-the parliamentary secretary is about to rise to say that I am getting off the NavCan issue. I just want to remind him of what he said during the debate over the privatisation of CN Rail, when a request was made to exclude the Quebec City bridge, which is part of world heritage. He stated that the government was not about to start saving every small structure at the end of a country road.
He compared the Quebec City bridge, something the residents of the Quebec region take pride in, to a small structure at the end of a country road. That is what the parliamentary secretary said when he was-