Mr. Speaker, as Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages, I am proud to present, together with my colleague, this bill to amend the Air Canada Public Participation Act, which will ensure respect for the linguistic rights of Canadians.
This is another example of our government's commitment to the official languages and linguistic duality. Our government is strongly committed to promoting both official languages. We believe that linguistic duality is a fundamental aspect of our identity. It is an economic, social and cultural asset for Canadian society and for Canada on the international scene.
Our new government has signed service and education agreements with the provinces and territories totalling $1.18 billion over four years. Dozens of other funding agreements with official languages community groups and organizations have been signed as well.
In addition, in the 2007 budget, the new government of Canada also increased funding for official languages minority communities by providing an additional $30 million over two years. These monies will fund cultural and extracurricular activities as well as community centres. The $30 million is in addition to $642 million over five years allocated by the Action Plan for Official Languages, which seeks to promote and develop the official languages in Canada.
We have proven, and our actions will continue to prove, that respect for the Official Languages Act in every department, including Transport Canada, is a priority for us.
I would like to present a brief history of Air Canada in order to support the proposed amendments to the Air Canada Public Participation Act.
Air Canada, as we know it today, was established in 1937 by legislation whose purpose was to create a national airline for Canada, the Trans-Canada Air Lines.
During the second world war, Trans-Canada Airlines was charged with carrying Canadian armed forces and Canadian government officials and diplomatic dispatches regarding urgent war business over the Atlantic Ocean between Canada and the British Isles. What began as an urgent war measure became the springboard for Trans-Canada Airlines' expansion into the international commercial air market.
Trans-Canada Airlines was renamed Air Canada through an act of Parliament on January 1, 1965. This change reflected its changed status from one of a national air transportation, cargo and mail service carrier to one of a Canadian based international commercial airline. Consideration was also given to the fact that being bilingual, the name Air Canada better reflected Canada's two official languages.
Throughout its history, Air Canada has shown its will to correctly reflect Canadian linguistic duality. For example, as early as 1963, Air Canada set up an internal committee on bilingualism to examine its policies and practices and recommend corporate improvements.
In 1968, more than 34% of all Air Canada employees, including 57% in Quebec, were classified as bilingual. In 1969, when the Official Languages Act was passed, Air Canada made sure that its corporate policies were in line with official languages requirements, just like other federal institutions.
As members will recall, on two occasions, the Government of Canada imposed official languages requirements on Air Canada through the Air Canada Public Participation Act in order to ensure the continued protection of the linguistic rights of Canadians. Full obligations under the Official Languages Act were imposed on Air Canada, once when privatization occurred in 1988-89, and again in 2000 when Air Canada purchased Canadian Airlines International.
In 2000, these obligations were extended to require that Air Canada make sure that its subsidiaries that provide air services serve their clients in both official languages.
In 2002, in response to a report from the Standing Committee on Official Languages, Air Canada tabled its Linguistic Action Plan 2001-2010, in which it renewed its ongoing commitment to both official languages and put forward a 10-year plan describing how it intended to further that goal. The action plan was updated in 2004.
Furthermore, on November 25, 2004, an Air Canada senior executive appeared before the Standing Committee on Official Languages. He said to the committee that during the restructuring process of Air Canada, when the company had to identify $2 billion in savings, only three budgets had not been reduced: safety, security and official languages.
Air Canada showed on a number of occasions that it was willing to meet its responsibilities when it comes to official languages.
However, on October 1, 2004, as part of its corporate business plan, Air Canada made major changes to its corporate structure aimed at maximizing efficiency and boosting investment. Air Canada then created independent trading units under a new parent company, ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. Therefore, the Air Canada Public Participation Act now applies to only one part of Air Canada.
The former internal divisions and subsidiaries of Air Canada, including Jazz, have now become independent companies and are not subject to the official languages obligations set out in the Air Canada Public Participation Act.
In response to Canadians, Air Canada's employees and the Standing Committee on Official Languages, the Government of Canada committed to introduce legislation to ensure that there would be no erosion of Air Canada's official languages act and headquarters location obligations as a result of its corporate restructuring.
Since then, Air Canada has showed its intention to keep up its efforts and initiatives to respect and improve the quality of its services in both official languages. Last November, at the Standing Committee on Official Languages, a senior executive presented Air Canada's hiring policy which focuses on hiring bilingual candidates. The company has also transferred a good many flight attendants in an effort to increase the bilingualism ratio.
This is why I will gladly support this bill before the House. The House intends to maintain this commitment and to respect the obligation it has under the Air Canada Public Participation Act to give Air Canada's employees the right to work in the language of their choice. It will also ensure that the linguistic rights of Canadians are preserved as far as the services offered by this company are concerned. This bill will help the company keep contributing to the social fabric of Canada and to play its role as an ambassador of Canadian values abroad in the years to come.
