Mr. Speaker, we will speak of motion No. 15 amending clause 32 of the bill so that charges may be imposed to the Department of National Defence or a user in respect of a state aircraft of a foreign country.
We know that small air carriers have already proposed that charges be imposed to the National Defence. Is it normal, realistic or even acceptable that, in 1996, National Defence has a $10.8 billion budget paid with taxpayers' money while there is no more war threat, the cold war is over, and there is detente all over the world? The generals, National Defence employees act like a government inside the government. Is it normal that National Defence does not have to pay for its aircraft? This would be a good point to develop when the parliamentary secretary speaks a little later. We will ask him if he finds that acceptable.
Here is the position of the Bloc Quebecois. According to the Bloc, it is unfair that carriers pay for the services provided to National Defence; if clause 32(2) is not amended, it will still allow for hidden spending by National Defence. The Bloc Quebecois has always asked for the reduction of military spending. Therefore, it is important to know what the real cost of military spending.
Moreover, and this is the ultimate argument, private air carriers should not have to pay for National Defence.
I could also mention another example and ask for more information from the parliamentary secretary when he speaks on Bill C-20. Can the government guarantee that services in French will be
maintained over the Quebec territory and the Ottawa territory, which is officially bilingual, when this bill is implemented?
I already know what the parliamentary secretary will answer me. Later, when he comments, maybe he will say that, pursuant to the provisions of Bill C-20, the Official Languages Act will still be in force. We will have to see whether the provisions of this act will apply to Nav Canada's operations, to its corporate headquarters, its administrative services and the regional control centres. But can the parliamentary secretary ensure us that the Francophones in Quebec who, in 1975-1976, won the fight of the Association des Gens de l'Air du Québec, gained the right for a francophone pilot to speak to a francophone air traffic controller in the language they both choose?
What I am explaining could look like an aberration and might seem stupid, but before the fight of these people in 1975, it was totally and specifically forbidden for Francophones to have a conversation in French, for instance between someone in the cockpit and someone in the control tower or at a regional control centre. It was an aberration.
I would like to hear more about this, because this is one of the concerns of the Bloc Quebecois. With the cost-effectiveness requirements, maybe nothing would prevent the closure of all regional control centres and the transfer of their operations to a large commercial centre, for instance in Mississauga, in Ontario, which would control the entire air corridor in Canada. To make the operations cost-effective, maybe services in French would be reduced.
It may seem like an aberration that two Francophones were not allowed to speak French in the field of aviation. But I would remind you that pilots flying over the lower North Shore and the Magdalen Islands, which are part of Quebec, cannot get services in French. Why not? Because the services are offered by the Moncton area control centre, which is officially bilingual, but cannot offer services in French.
When an Air Alliance pilot is ready to take off at the end of the Magdalen Islands airstrip and asks for services in French, he gets this answer: "Please wait, we will give you the services as soon as possible". In the meantime, his engines are running and fuel is burned.
The Air Alliance supervisor wants his pilot to think of cost effectiveness. The pilots of Air Alliance and Inter-Canadien, Quebec's regional carriers, as well as Air Satellite and others are conscientious and want their company to succeed. But when they are being asked to wait 5, 7 or 9 minutes and their engines are running, they know they are wasting fuel and adding to costs. I would like to know if, with this bill, we will be able to get services in French in the whole territory of Quebec, like the government promised.
Mr. Speaker, you are signalling me that my time has expired. I could also have mentioned that no one will represent the Association québécoise des transporteurs aériens on Nav Canada's board, but some of my colleagues will do so. Our colleague, the member for Lac-Saint-Jean, was trained as a pilot. He is not only young, he is a pilot, so he knows what he is talking about. I could have spoken about it, but unfortunately my time has expired.