Mr. Speaker, I was saying that, today, the Bloc Quebecois is using one of its opposition days to speak of this. Why? Because the Bloc Quebecois is concerned first and foremost about public interest and the interests of Quebec in this matter, unlike the federal government, which appears concerned only about the electoral interests of its friends.
Any restructuring, including a possible merger, should comply with current legislation. Recourse to section 47 and to various other considerations poses a great threat to the continuation of healthy competition in this industry.
The Bloc Quebecois considers that competition is vital, because air transportation is an essential public service, especially in remote areas. There is no guarantee that control of air transportation in Canada will not fall into foreign hands. Finally, the Bloc Quebecois feels that American Airlines has a real veto on any proposal to restructure the airline industry in Canada, which runs contrary to the spirit of the Transport Act.
We also oppose it because there are thousands of strategic jobs, including many in Quebec, that are at risk in this matter. The Bloc Quebecois refuses to consider the loss of thousands of jobs a matter of fate and proposes that other scenarios be considered. The role of a responsible government is to take all these elements into account in order to serve the general interest.
The offer to purchase contravenes the Air Canada Act, which prohibits a single shareholder or a group of shareholders from owning more than 10% of the voting shares of the company. If the Onex/American Airlines group is making such an offer it means that either they are ignoring Canadian legislation or their friends in the government have allowed them to change the law to their satisfaction.
My interest in the air transportation issue arises from my awareness as the member for Jonquière of the importance of these changes for remote communities. While the merger of international routes could give us a sound national carrier, the merger of regional subsidiaries might eliminate competition in local markets, with the consequences this can have on prices and the quality of service.
The airline industry has a responsibility to serve communities across Canada. This merger would include regional subsidiaries, and the new entity would control 84% of the domestic market. Would this be good for remote areas and how would competition be affected? Even the strongest advocates of capitalism will say that a monopoly will almost certainly lead to higher prices, deficient services and a slow degeneration of the industry.
I would not want my region of Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean to lose out on this merger.
Yet it is these same company owners who want to change the rules who are asking the government to suspend the application of the Competition Act and who want to change the rules regarding ownership.
In closing, I support my colleague, the member for Charlesbourg, and I remind the House that the Bloc Quebecois has asked the federal government on several occasions to pass legislation on political party financing similar to that which exists in Quebec. Until such a law is enacted, the federal government will continue to protect the interests of those who contribute to the election fund to the detriment of the general public, as seems to be the case in the area of air transport.