Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Transport, I consider it a privilege to respond to the question of the hon. member for Kamouraska-Rivière-du-Loup regarding the Aéroports de Montréal.
Procedures have been put in place by Transport Canada to ensure that ADM respects the terms and conditions of all the agreements which it has entered into with the department.
With respect to what the hon. member views as a lack of co-operation on behalf of the ADM concerning its project for changing the role of Dorval and Mirabel international airports, to the best of our knowledge ADM has made available to the general public all of the studies on which it based its decision to reorganize operations at Mirabel and Dorval airports.
Aéroports de Montréal has also held many information sessions with the different municipalities surrounding these airports, the ones named by the hon. member. The general public was invited to attend these sessions and voice their concerns.
Transport Canada has responded to each and every complaint or question received and where required has provided the name, address and telephone number of a suitable ADM contact who could provide information. Any information which has been requested to date has already been made public and generally available by ADM.
At this point in time, to the best of our knowledge and based on the information that ADM has made available, there does not appear to be any violation of the terms and conditions of our agreements with them.
If the hon. member has evidence of any non-compliance on the part of ADM we would be happy to receive it and examine in immediately.
With respect to the environmental impact of ADM's decision, the Minister of Transport does not hold under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act the authority to undertake or require an environmental assessment of Aéroports de Montréal's plans for Dorval and Mirabel.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act does not apply to all projects regarding airports operated by local airport authorities. It applies when there is a project, as defined by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, involving a federal authority and a trigger under section 5.0 of the act. Triggers would include things like federal funding, federal licence or a permit or a decision under a lease.
The transfer of international flights from Mirabel to Dorval does not involve any of these.