moved that Bill C-29, An Act to amend the Air Canada Public Participation Act, be read the second time and referred to a committee.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise here today in support of Bill C-29, an act to amend the Air Canada Public Participation Act.
This government is firmly committed to supporting our country's linguistic duality.
This bill is an important part of this government's efforts to promote and protect the linguistic rights of all Canadians. Respecting the French fact is what a federalism of openness is all about.
The proposed amendments are in line with the government's response to the report of the Standing Committee on Official Languages entitled “Application of the Official Languages Act to ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. following the Restructuring of Air Canada”.
On April 10, 1937, long before we were born, Parliament created a national airline in order to provide essential air transportation, cargo and mail services across Canada. That airline would one day become known as Air Canada.
As a crown corporation, the airline has been subject to the Official Languages Act since that legislation came into effect in 1969.
When Air Canada was privatized in 1988, various public welfare obligations, particularly the obligation to respect the Official Languages Act, were imposed on the airline because of its status as a former federal crown corporation.
The government felt at the time that the various rights granted by the act, namely, the language of work and the obligation to serve the public in both official languages, had to be maintained for Air Canada employees and all Canadians.
This is also one of the determining factors in the government's current decision to ensure that the airline upholds its linguistic obligations.
The Government of Canada really cares about preserving the value and spirit of Canada's linguistic duality, so dear to Canadians.
As recently as the year 2000, language obligations were further enhanced when Air Canada acquired Canadian Airlines International. Along with other modifications, the Air Canada Public Participation Act was amended to place a duty on Air Canada to ensure that its airline subsidiaries, which were the carriers that now make up Air Canada Jazz, provided bilingual service to the public pursuant to the Official Languages Act.
As we know, Air Canada filed for bankruptcy protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act on April 1, 2003. For the next 18 months the company underwent a period of significant restructuring. Air Canada successfully emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2004, but the Air Canada that emerged from restructuring did not look the same as the organization before restructuring. As a result, some of the provisions in the Air Canada Public Participation Act relating to official languages ceased to apply.
For example, as a result of spinning off what had been internal divisions of Air Canada into separate companies, language of work protection and service to the public obligations no longer apply to spun-off post-restructuring entities such as Air Canada Cargo, Air Canada Technical Services and Air Canada Ground Handling Services.
However, obligations under the Air Canada Public Participation Act to adhere to the provisions of the Official Languages Act continue to apply to Air Canada, the mainline carrier.
Air Canada main component is required to keep its head office in Montreal and its maintenance centres in Montreal, Winnipeg and Mississauga. However, due to its reorganization, the size and staff of Air Canada main component have been cut in half.
At present, the law no longer applies to the limited partnerships that are now part of the holding company established in 2004, ACE Aviation Holdings Inc., which is not subject to official languages obligations. Furthermore, ACE Aviation Holdings, which is now the parent company for the entire group of Air Canada companies, is not required to keep its head office in Montreal.
Air Canada main component is no longer required to ensure that Air Canada Jazz, a regional carrier for Air Canada, provides service to the public in both official languages, as it is no longer a subsidiary of the Air Canada carrier, but rather a company in its group.
In May 2005, the former government tabled Bill C-47 which made a certain number of amendments to the Air Canada Public Participation Act. This bill would have restored most of the linguistic obligations that applied to the Air Canada family of companies prior to restructuring.
As members may recall, all parties in the House broadly supported the amendments proposed in Bill C-47, but that bill died on the order paper, leaving a legislative gap in the scope of the application of the Official Languages Act to a restructured Air Canada.
On June 15, 2006, the Standing Committee on Official Languages tabled a report concerning the application of the Official Languages Act to ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. In its report, the committee recommended that the government table a new bill similar in scope and application to Bill C-47, in order to restore the linguistic obligations of the Air Canada group of companies.
On October 16, our government tabled a response to the Standing Committee on Official Languages. I would like to quote part of that response if I may:
The Government believes that the linguistic rights that have been acquired by Air Canada should continue to be preserved.
As a symbol of Canada around the world, the carrier should continue to be bound by the obligation to adhere to linguistic obligations it agreed to when it became a private company in the late 1980s and as subsequently amended.
Today, the government is seeking support for Bill C-29, a bill that responds to the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
The proposed bill stipulates that Air Canada Jazz and any future airline affiliated with ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. will be subject to Part IV, that is, to the Official Languages Act provisions governing service to the public.
ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. will be obligated to ensure communications with the public in both official languages and to keep its head office in Montreal. This provision will ensure that obligations similar to those Air Canada was subject to as the parent organization of a group of companies prior to restructuring will also apply to the new parent company of all of the holdings within this structure.
Under the new legislation, former divisions of Air Canada that became limited partnerships, that is, technical services, cargo, and ground handling, and which are federally regulated undertakings, will be subject to the Official Languages Act in its entirety.
I believe that this bill makes it very clear that our government is committed to this country's official languages. It has considered the recommendations put forward by the Standing Committee on Official Languages, and it is restoring the pre-restructuring language rights of Canadians who work for Air Canada or who travel aboard its aircraft.