Mister Speaker, there will be no demagoguery here today. I will take the floor and will share my time with the hon. member for Laval.
I would like my Conservative friends to note that in me they will not find a demagogue who will run in fear with such a file. I will give you concrete examples. I will speak about an area I know very well. My colleague from the region of Quebec should know one thing: I sat on the Canadian Olympic Committee for 25 years; I was president of the Canadian Cycling Association for 10 years; I was on the international scene in the bicycling field for at least 15 years and I have begun working with the World Anti-Doping Agency, and when one attends these meetings, the working language is English.
If the conservative Members of Parliament from Quebec understood French in the least, they would understand that the motion that we have tabled today is just one step toward the recognition of the Quebec nation, which the current government boasted that it promoted.
If the Quebec nation wishes to say something to our francophone colleagues in the Conservative Party, the latter should be able to read what the motion asks for. It asks that the language of work apply to employees of companies under federal jurisdiction on Quebec territory. I will repeat myself to allow my francophone colleagues from other parties to translate this into English so that it is understood. The only request in the motion is that, with regard to the language of work, the Charter of the French Language should apply to employees of businesses under federal jurisdiction on Quebec territory.
This is not a revolution. It is simply a step in the right direction to recognize employees who work in Quebec in businesses under federal jurisdiction. I have named several, including Bell Canada, TELUS, Rogers, CanWest, CTV Global, Cogeco, Astral Media, the Royal Bank, Scotiabank, TD Bank, CIBC, the BMO Financial Group, the National Bank of Canada, ACE Aviation Holdings, which is Air Canada, and Canadian Pacific. We want the people who work in these companies to be able to speak French. I think it is quite natural to speak French in Quebec. I am not talking about the individual who works for Air Canada in Flin Flon, Manitoba. It would be nice if he spoke French, but that is his own problem. We are speaking of employees who work in Quebec and who deal with Quebeckers every day or almost every day.
I can give you some examples regarding Air Canada. Mr. Speaker, if you arrive in Montreal, at Dorval airport—and I hope you do—you will be surprised when you check in at the business class counter. Because all members of this House travel in business class. English is the language used. Yes, some people speak French, but I guarantee you you had better request it.
Let us talk about gate security at Montreal airport—I mention it because I experience it. I can understand in the case of international flights or flights to the United States: there is U.S. customs, even though there is Quebec customs, which is supposedly francophone, Canadian customs. Nevertheless, security officers, those who check your luggage at the domestic flights counters, greet you in English only. That is unacceptable and that is what we are criticizing. This is what we want.
The motion the Bloc Québécois is introducing today does not constitute an armed revolution.
I have heard some things. Unfortunately for the members opposite, I understand English very well. I took intensive English courses when I sat on the Canadian Olympic Association and the Canadian Cycling Association, where everything is done in English. Earlier I heard it said in English that the Bloc was useless and that the things it proposed were completely crazy. We have long since stopped listening to our Quebec colleagues in the Conservative Party who say the same thing in French. However, the discomfort on the anglophone side is noticeable.
We should have taken the time to explain matters to our colleagues, including those in the Liberal Party, which is not any different. Earlier I heard our colleague from Hull—Aylmer, whose position greatly surprised me. He lives next door to a region very important for Quebec, next door to Ottawa. However, his position is that our motion is pointless, the French language is protected, and everything is just fine. My answer to him is that we have a problem. He has not been to the Ottawa airport in a long time. He may not have taken a flight recently, but I have. I can say that there are security problems at Ottawa airport. I can also talk about Air Canada and WestJet. He may tell me that WestJet is more from the other side.
We are asking that those who work in enterprises under federal jurisdiction located in Quebec be allowed to speak French if they so wish. That is not asking too much. That is all what this Bloc Québécois motion is asking today. If Quebec is a nation, let us take a step forward and say it explicitly. That is what we are asking in this motion today.
We are asking the House to recognize Quebec as a nation. People are wondering what a nation is. It is defined as a large community of people, typically living within the same territory and having, to a certain extent, a shared history, language, culture and economy. That does not come from the members for Louis-Hébert and Lévis—Bellechasse. It is how the Larousse dictionary defines the word “nation”. We did not invent that definition. That is what a nation is.
Here is how the Petit Robert defines the word “nation”: “Group of people, generally large, characterized by awareness of its unity and a desire to live together”. That is what a nation is. That is exactly what we are asking. To achieve that, we are asking—and I will say it very slowly again so that my francophone colleagues from the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party can translate that into their own words—that all enterprises under federal jurisdiction located in Quebec comply with the Charter of the French Language as it applies to language of work.
The Bloc Québécois is not asking for a revolution with this motion today. If the recognition of Quebec as a nation really means something, then let us allow employees of enterprises under federal jurisdiction located in Quebec to work in French.