Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Winnipeg North Centre. I do not know if I should say I am pleased to speak again to the bill. Over the last couple of years everyone has had the opportunity to rehash what is happening in our airline industry and the obvious fact that the government's strategy for the airline industry is not working.
We stood here 18 months ago and went through numerous hours of committee discussions about the airline industry in Canada. We heard about the government's plan to stabilize the industry and make sure we maintain service to a number of small areas in Canada. As my colleague from the Bloc has indicated, Air Canada is reneging on its commitments to provide that service.
We in the New Democratic Party and a number of Canadians are starting to realize that the government's plan is not working. The plan for deregulation and privatization which was started in the late eighties is not working. Members of the House who believe it is need to give their heads a good shake. Fear of the word regulation has brought us from one crisis to the next. We felt we have had to deregulate industries or they could not make it.
For how many years must Canadians see our airline industry flounder before the government realizes the answer is not solely in privatization or deregulation? Regulation is good at times and until there is some reregulation within the airline industry we will be back here time and time again.
The bill relating to the removal of the 15% shareholder limit would not do the trick. Every witness who appeared before the committee said the bill would not do the job. They said the 15% shareholder limit would not make a difference for Air Canada but that other things need to be happening as well.
The sad part is that the government is still out there grasping at the need for more foreign ownership. It believes that will save us. The bottom line is that will not. There are those of us who know that increased foreign ownership would only mean that cream of the crop routes would be taken over by other airlines. We must go in a different direction. We will not survive and have a stable airline industry in Canada until the government recognizes this.
Something as simple as regulating domestic capacity would ensure we do not end up with little fights about competition rules. I am calling them little fights because the underdog never seems to get anything out of them. Air Canada moved in on CanJet out east and put CanJet out of the picture. They are now introducing a new airline that will compete with WestJet.
Competition is not all bad. There is no question of that. However competition for the sake of competition means we will be constantly putting airlines out of business. That is not the answer. If we regulated domestic capacity in certain areas we would make sure the airline industries could make a go of it. It would give the industry a chance to stabilize. That is what we need to see.
The parliamentary secretary spoke this morning rather than the transport minister. Perhaps that says something. Perhaps he realizes the bill is no big deal. Perhaps he knows it would have no astounding effect except for the fact that there would be an increased shareholder limit for someone.
I bring this point to the floor again. Where would Air Canada be now if it had a 40% or 50% shareholder after September 11? Would that shareholder have stuck around taking the losses? I do not think so. We would have been in an even worse position.
Under the watch of the transportation minister six airlines have folded in Canada. What is he doing? He is grasping at straws. He says we will try a little piece of this legislation and a piece of this legislation. What we really need is a transportation policy or strategy within the airline industry and other transportation industries. I will not dwell over and over on the same thing. We in the NDP will not be supporting the bill.
The most recent of the airlines, Canada 3000, is going under at a time when there is a need to provide stability and give assistance to the airlines. We in the NDP did not say to give it a blank cheque. We said that if we are to give it government dollars we should tie it to alleviating job loss and maintaining service. It is not a blank cheque. Interest free loans are not unreasonable at this time.
The government could do something to assist the airlines and alleviate job loss. What did the minister do? He almost came right out and said if the airlines did not cut jobs the government would not give them any money. If someone then came along and said they would buy it back at 50% of the value it was at before, the government loan would be off.
Once again the government has no strategy for stabilizing our airline industry, supporting airlines in Canada and making sure service is provided throughout the country. The government is making a whimsical grab at whatever might work for this period of time. It has no vision for the country.