Mr. Speaker, I would first like to say how pleased I am to see Bill C-29 being submitted to the House. It has long been awaited. How many times in the last few months have we asked for this bill to be introduced in the House? I do not know if it has anything to do with the controversy around official languages, but the bill seems to be finally welcome for the Conservative government. Nevertheless, I would like to thank the minister for finally introducing it in the House, even if I am worried. We will be able to study the bill in committee.
My first question to the minister is the following. Does he agree that we should refer this bill to the Standing Committee on Official Languages? This is a good committee. The minister himself said that the Standing Committee on Official Languages made a very good recommendation—along with the Commissioner of Official Languages. I know that, at this time, the Conservatives do not want to appoint a chairman for the committee to resume its proceedings, perhaps because the committee works too well. Perhaps the Conservative government does not want to invest too much effort in our country's official languages. I do not know, but things must be said. I am trying to say it as politely as possible. However, I am worried.
Let us take part 3, titled “Affiliates”. The proposed subsection 10.2(4) says:
Only Parts IV, VIII, IX and X of the Official Languages Act apply in respect of
(a) the air service undertaking owned and operated by Jazz Air Limited Partnership, a limited partnership registered on September 13, 2004 under the laws of the Province of Quebec; and
(b) any new undertaking that provides air services.
Then, there is the proposed subsection 10.2(5):
With respect to a new undertaking that is acquired after the day on which this section comes into force, the Parts of the Official Languages Act referred to in subsection (4) commence to apply after the expiry of one year, or any longer period that the Minister may fix, after the day on which the new undertaking is acquired.
That part worries me because, should Air Canada acquire something, it should respect the official languages of our country. That should be the case right from the start and we should not have to wait for four or five years. If we believe in the Official Languages Act, if we believe that it should be respected, I cannot see why we should give Air Canada the opportunity to say that after buying a new company, it should be exempted from it for several years to give it time to train employees. That provision creates a problem. I find it unacceptable if we want to give services in English and French in our great country where there are supposedly two official languages, despite the fact that we lost the official languages committee.