Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member. Earlier, I listened to the speech of Conservative members who spoke in support of the people in the Atlantic and Quebec regions.
I do not intend to get away from the hon. member's question. I will answer it, but first I would like to give an example.
About three weeks ago, I arrived in Moncton around 9 p.m. Here, I do not want to blame the flight attendant, who is not responsible for his schedule, since it is Air Canada that establishes it. That flight attendant did not speak a word of French. I decided to speak in French to see where this would take me. Finally, when I was getting off the aircraft, I dealt with a person who was not wearing a uniform, which means that this person was no longer on duty. That person had to fill in for the flight attendant by speaking to me in French. In other words, that person volunteered for Air Canada. However, had that person already left Moncton airport, it would have been impossible for me to get served in French. I reported this incident to the Commissioner of Official Languages.
Earlier, I mentioned the incident involving a can of Seven Up. It happened between Montreal and Ottawa. If hon. members take a flight between Montreal and Toronto, they will see for themselves. It is obvious. The act could go further if we really want the two official languages to be respected in our country. As for airlines, this legislation should be extended to all other carriers, so as to create a level playing field in this regard. I think this would really be good.
Antonine Maillet once said that we do not want to turn English people into French people, nor do we want to turn French people into English people. We simply want the service. There are people who can get in and provide that service. There should be room for everyone. There are jobs within the government administration that involve dealing with the public, but that are in areas where employees do not have to use both languages. However, if employees are in contact with the public, they should be able to provide the service in both official languages. That is the government's responsibility.
So, during its review of the bill, the Committee on Transport will have to strengthen it by extending its scope to other airlines, so that everyone get equal treatment.