These few Conservative members wax indignant, criticizing the government's partisan appointments, even though they did the exact same thing during their eight or nine years in office.
This confirms what we in the Bloc said to Quebeckers in the last election campaign in 1993: “The Liberals and the Conservatives are exactly the same, except that they throw the ball at each other”. When one party is in office, the other complains and vice versa.
We in the Bloc Quebecois are of one mind in this regard: Since we field candidates only in Quebec, we know that we were elected to represent Quebec's interests. What we ask for is a transparent process. We have no one to reward for contributing to our election fund. We want the government to appoint the most able people, regardless of gender, origin or academic background.
In conclusion, this bill makes various small administrative changes resulting from the experiences of the last few years. We think it is normal to make such administrative changes and, as I mentioned earlier, we believe the board plays an important and essential role.
It is a good thing that there will be more emphasis on the identification of safety violations. It is a good thing that the board will use collaboration and rely on information provided in all frankness and confidence to improve its investigative method.
We are happy that, through this bill, the board will confirm that it is determined to identify circumstances surrounding the loss of lives in order to promote security, and not to determine responsibility.
I think it is a clarification that needs to be made. The issue is not to know who is responsible, but to try to understand what happened, especially if lives were lost, and to make sure that it does not happen again.
A country's transportation system depends essentially on the degree of confidence. People will prefer one means of transportation over another if they are confident, if they think safety rules are observed and if they believe they are in an environment that is safe and sound for themselves and their families.
It is clear that problems will arise if people in Quebec and in Canada lose confidence in one means of transportation or another. We have an example of that right now. Air traffic controllers are presently negotiating with Nav Canada. I do not want to sound alarmist, but I hope that the safety of air passengers is not threatened by these negotiations. We know there are pressure tactics, we know there are obstacles.
Nav Canada—and this was confirmed by the Auditor General of Canada, Mr. Desautels—was literally given the air traffic control system in Canada. I think it would be in Nav Canada's best interest to sit down at the bargaining table with its employees, the air traffic controllers, and to find a way to settle this collective agreement. It is crucial to the safety of Canada's air transport system as well as to the confidence we have in this system.
I repeat what I said at the beginning of my speech: We support Bill S-2 and our party will co-operate with the government should it decide to proceed with second and third reading of this bill this morning so it can be passed before the summer recess.