Madam Speaker, I am happy to be splitting my time with the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle.
I am pleased to speak to the question surrounding the airline industry. It concerns many people in my riding of Dartmouth and they are looking to Ottawa for leadership on this issue.
It is also a symbolic issue for Nova Scotia and Canada, a debate which shows how the Liberal Party has moved from being a proactive force in Canadian politics to being a caretaker government which equates the corporate good with the public good. It clearly shows how out of touch members opposite have become with the reality of most Canadians.
My constituents have approached me on the issue of the travel industry. It is an industry which employs many people in Dartmouth. They fear for their jobs. We have heard about the more than 25,000 direct jobs involved in Air Canada and Canadian Airlines, but I have also heard from people who make a living selling seat sales. They worry that they will have no jobs when there are no regional carriers, no national competition and no more seat sales.
A retired Air Canada worker was in my office yesterday. He is concerned about the future of his pension. He is not a direct employee, but he is scared because this process may threaten his income. Many direct employees, be they pilots, mechanics or flight attendants, have told me or my staff that they will be forced to move to keep their jobs due to the restructuring. These people are being brave, but they are worried. Consumers in Dartmouth are also worried.
Atlantic Canada has a sad history of watching our young people go down the road. I do not think I am exaggerating when I say that most families in my riding have a close family member in central or western Canada. I also know that many people have moved to Dartmouth from Cape Breton, rural Newfoundland or from the Acadie to find work. Most of these peoples' families are still down home. A major force which helps to connect these families are airplanes.
Due to the former Conservative policies there is no real train service left for most people in the maritimes. The Trans-Canada highway system has been abandoned by the government and motorists now face tolls throughout my region, so that option is becoming less and less a factor as well.
What I hear people talking about over their coffee in the shop next door to my constituency office is the next seat sale to Calgary, Sydney or Gander. I am also amazed by the anger people express over the fact that it seems to cost more to fly from Halifax to St. John's than it does to fly from Toronto to London, England.
People do not talk about the relative merits of the Onex or Air Canada offers. They are not concerned about the share price. They want to be able to see their kids. They want to know they can fly to see their parents and be by their side in an emergency.
These anxieties should have been addressed by the government. It had the opportunity. The government started the ball rolling by invoking section 47 in the summertime, but there were no assurances from the minister for Dartmouth consumers. A throne speech was delivered, but again silence on this issue. There was nothing for maritimers.
The minister did say at one point that this was a matter for the private sector, a position I believe he still stands by. He has mumbled vague words about price protection, but nothing specific. This week the minister has given assurances that the company will be accommodated and that the 10% ownership rule could be changed, but no such specifics to protect consumers.
The minister will do nothing to protect consumers because he is part of a party and a government which does not believe there is a role for government in the marketplace to protect consumers. He is protecting the choices of shareholders, not stakeholders and not the public.
It is sad that we have come to this. Canada was not built this way and Canadians have never wanted it to be this way.
Halifax harbour has had a proud and vital part in the development of my country and our community.
We should always remember that its piers, its rail links and equipment did not arrive with this pretty setting. It was largely built by public money. In large part, Canada was created based on promises of a public investment in a cross-Canada rail link.
Our airline industry was also built by public money. These investments were visionary in their recognition that accessible transportation links in Canada are not a frill but a necessity.
The policy allowed for the concept of the Canadian government acting for the public good. This tradition was gutted by the Conservative government in the last decade and it has been continued by the current Liberal regime.
It is sad that the Liberal government has lost that vision of the public good. It seems that at every turn on questions of trade, culture, the environment, health protection and transportation, the government feels that the corporate good outweighs the public good. The government has said that after shareholders have finished carving up the current air carriers it will bring in a law to allow the carve up. For the rest of us, the government has said “trust us”.
I still remember the Liberals saying “trust us” for a national child care program, and the Liberals committing themselves to scrap the GST. I cannot trust them in any good conscience but I can call on them to remember the concept of public good in transport policy and do the following before bringing in any new law: Protect the maximum number of jobs and ensure that any job loss be offset through attrition and incentive packages; put in place a regulatory framework to guarantee fair prices and equal service to the consumer; explore all policy instruments at its disposal, which might include an equity partnership, to ensure that the public good is protected in a restructured airline industry; have all affected stakeholders participate in any eventual decision about the future of our air transport industry prior to it being taken; and, keep foreign investors in a small minority interest and do not allow them to obtain a controlling position in the affairs of Canada's national airlines.
This is our national tradition. That is what I believe constituents want to see.