Madam Speaker, the government has been entirely clear and transparent in its approach of using the Competition Tribunal, not only while the section 47 order is in place, but in the future.
On August 30 the government sought the advice of the commissioner of competition on how to address competition concerns under the most likely scenarios. The report was made public on October 26.
The government policy framework, which the Minister of Transport announced on October 26, proposes a permanent process for dealing with mergers and acquisitions involving Air Canada and Canadian Airlines in which the Competition Tribunal will play a major role.
The new review process foresees a proposal being tabled simultaneously with the Competition Tribunal, the Canadian Transportation Agency and the Minister of Transport.
The Competition Tribunal will make its findings known to the Minister of Transport. Armed with this information from the tribunal, the Minister of Transport will determine what additional conditions would be required to address transportation public policy objectives and the general public interest.
With this information as a guide, the Competition Tribunal and the Minister of Transport will proceed to negotiate remedies directly with the parties. The applicants will then revise their proposals to include undertakings to meet remedies negotiated with the tribunal and the conditions negotiated on behalf of the minister. This process will only be completed if the applicant has successfully demonstrated to the Canadian Transportation Agency that it was owned and controlled by Canadians.
The minister will complete the process by preparing a recommendation to the governor in council for approval. It is clear that it is not the Minister of Transport who will have the final say on major airline restructuring. It is the government itself.