Lawrence Cannon

[Option Canada, May 29th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind this House that in order to restore confidence in our institutions, there was a commission of inquiry. The Gomery commission allowed this government to have the accountability act passed. This legislation can be summed up in two words: never again; no patronage ever again, no illegal contracts ever again. We have done our job. We are practising open federalism and we will continue to do our job.

[Option Canada, May 29th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I must remind the member that this event took place 12 years ago.

There have been opportunities to verify that. Just now, a member mentioned the work of the Gomery commission, which analyzed a series of events, including events that led to a vacuum, a shortfall. We are still looking for that shortfall.

[Option Canada, May 29th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I would like to remind my hon. colleague that these events took place 12 years ago.

As soon as we came to power, we took real action. We made the Canadian Unity Council a thing of the past. We put an end to its operations so that we could adopt a new approach to developing and maintaining relationships with the provinces: open federalism. It is clear that this new approach is producing results. The Bloc Québécois should acknowledge these real, clear results.

[Option Canada, May 29th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the honourable member, as well as the Bloc Québécois members should remember that the Gomery report has already determined that $40 million went missing.

On this side of the House, we hope to discover the source of this information. We are waiting for the official opposition to provide clues leading to the recovery of the $40 million.

[Option Canada, May 29th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, once again I must say that the truth will come out. In this context, I explained to the hon. colleagues of the Bloc Québécois that, on the one hand, this government is committed to one principle, respecting the jurisdictions of provinces and territories. On the other hand, it practices a form of open federalism, which has already had a very positive impact on federal provincial relations. I hope that we will continue exactly in that direction.

[Option Canada, May 29th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, during the last election, Quebeckers were clear. Two thirds of Quebeckers elected members to the Quebec National Assembly who are opposed to holding a referendum.

We have to ask ourselves whether the duo now known to the general public in Quebec will also be against a referendum.

[Option Canada, May 29th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister just explained to this House, that was an event that occurred 12 years ago.

Since then, we have been practising a form of open federalism. We have put an end to the Canadian Unity Council; we have agreed to recognize Quebeckers as a nation within Canada; we have resolved the fiscal imbalance; we have resolved the issue of UNESCO and we are continuing—

[Air Canada Public Participation Act, May 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I can see my colleague from Acadie—Bathurst's determination and dynamism when he talks about this file. He gets carried away and all wound up, just like I do, when we talk about maintaining and promoting the language. He is absolutely right. I also agree that his committee is a good committee.

However, we were inspired in our efforts to follow up on what had been done previously, to send this bill to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. Let me point out to my colleague that as soon as I had a chance to raise this issue with him, I told him that this had been done by my predecessor, the hon. Jean Lapierre, who is no longer in the House.

We are fundamentally bringing back the bill that the former government, the Liberal government, had introduced. I think there was unanimous consent in the House to proceed in this fashion. I do not see why the House would object to the passage of this bill that restores things to how they are supposed to be. I look forward to my colleague's support for this bill.

[Air Canada Public Participation Act, May 28th, 2007]

Thank you. To answer my colleague as precisely as possible, the bill intends to correct something that was done during reorganization—I mentioned it in my speech—when the restructuring happened. We need to enhance the safeguards, as the Standing Committee on Official Languages and the Commissioner of Official Languages has been demanding for quite some time. That is what this bill endeavours to do.

With regard to the additional services that have been added in the past few years, since the company is now privately owned, the bill does not set out to adjust the provisions of the Official Languages Act with regard to projects, affiliate companies or sub-services that may have been developed since the reorganization. We will restore things to where they were in the past in order to go forward. We obviously will not be going back to where we were with Aeroplan or Air Canada Vacations, as the member said.

With regard to maintenance, we are still obligated to serve three regions: Winnipeg, Montreal and Mississauga. I can, however, assure my hon. colleagues that the head office will remain in Montreal.

[Air Canada Public Participation Act, May 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, did my hon. colleague just suggest that luggage be repatriated to Quebec? I may have misunderstood.