Mr. Speaker, at the risk of repeating myself, I wish to say that I rise today to speak to Bill C-29, An Act to amend the Air Canada Public Participation Act. We know that the government wants to amend the Air Canada Public Participation Act in order to take into account the restructuring it went through after it emerged from bankruptcy protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.
I would like to point out that the Bloc Québécois is favourable to the intent of this bill. The Bloc Québécois considers that Air Canada, no matter what its financial structure, must be subjected to three conditions: first, keeping a maintenance centre in Montreal; second, keeping the head office in Montreal; and, third, applying the Official Languages Act to its air transportation activities. And to make sure that the government and all the members of the House understand, I will repeat more slowly this third point. We are asking that the Official Languages Act be applied to its air transportation activities. It is indeed a very important point of consideration for this bill.
As official languages critic for the Bloc Québécois, I must say that it is very important for the Bloc Québécois, for all Quebeckers and for all Canadians to be able to express themselves in the language of their choice when dealing with Air Canada airline subsidiaries, with French obviously being one of those languages. Anyone must absolutely be able to use French—it is a sine qua non condition—without any problems or difficulties for someone who uses French with Air Canada airline subsidiaries.
Since this bill maintains and sets out some of these obligations, the Bloc Québécois is in favour of it in principle, as I said earlier. We do, however, regret certain shortcomings, which may be remedied during the committee study. The Standing Committee on Official Languages is the appropriate place to debate this bill, once it passes second reading.
This bill would ensure that the obligations set out under the Air Canada Public Participation Act are maintained despite the restructuring of the Air Canada group. Since we supported those obligations, we cannot oppose adapting them and clarifying their meaning.
The former Minister of Transport, Jean Lapierre, until recently the hon. member for Outremont, said:
It is imperative that the important obligations set out in the Air Canada Public Participation Act continue to be respected. I have committed to Air Canada that they would be subjected to ‘no more, no less’ regulation.
Furthermore, there is now some urgency to adapting the legislation since, in his news release, the minister stated:
Neither act however, applies to the operations that have been spun-off into limited partnerships under the direct or indirect control of ACE Aviation Holdings Incorporated and are now affiliates of Air Canada, such as Jazz Air Limited Partnership.
In addition, ACE Aviation Holdings Incorporated, the parent company that controls, directly and indirectly, all the entities within the new corporate structure of Air Canada, is not covered by official language obligations or the requirement related to head office location.
That is why it is so important to pass this bill immediately.
Although we do not agree with this very uncompromising interpretation, there is no doubt that it will give the Air Canada group a strong argument to justify its failure to meet its obligations. That is entirely understandable.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to share some concerns and express some reservations, at the very least, about this bill.
We think that the legislative protection is not very strong with respect to these two very important points: Air Canada's head office and the maintenance centre.
Since the advent of Air Canada Technical Services as a limited partnership, the requirement that Air Canada keep a maintenance centre in Montreal rings hollow because Air Canada Technical Services is under no such obligation.
Furthermore, all the provisions on keeping headquarters in Montreal can easily be circumvented. There are no criteria defining the head office. So nothing is stopping ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. and Air Canada from moving their real decision-making centre out of Montreal, and to keep some sort of a branch in the city. It would be advisable to find ways to reinforce these measures to ensure they are effective.
Let us now talk about the concerns regarding the Standing Committee on Official Languages. This is what the committee said of Bill C-47 in its report on June 16, 2006:
Aeroplan would not have been subject to the same provisions as the former internal divisions of Air Canada, because the company would not fall under the legislative jurisdiction of Parliament;
As a separate entity prior to restructuring, Air Canada Vacations would not have been subject to the Official Languages Act.
According to the Commissioner of Official Languages, some aspects of this bill left room for interpretation that could potentially have reduced the linguistic obligations of Air Canada, ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. and their subsidiaries.
Here are the five recommendations of the committee:
That the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities reintroduce in the shortest possible time another bill repeating the provisions of Bill C-47, and adding the amendments suggested by the Commissioner of Official Languages when she appeared by the Standing Committee on Transport on November 22, 2005;
That the new bill stipulate that Air Canada continue to be subject to the Official Languages Act in its entirety;
That the new bill stipulate that the divisions of Air Canada that became limited partnerships during or after the restructuring (including Air Canada Technical Services, AC Cargo, Air Canada Ground Handling Services and Air Canada Online Services) are subject to the Official Languages Act in its entirety;
That the new bill stipulate that the companies that were Air Canada subsidiaries prior to the restructuring, including Jazz Air, Air Canada Vacations and Aeroplan, are subject to Part IV (language of service) of the Official Languages Act;
That the legislative review of the new bill be referred to the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
As we can see, there is a well established structure, with the ABCs spelled out, precisely to make sure that current Bill C-29, former Bill C-47, will go forward and help us find a solution to this problem.
Parts of the previous comments are taken from recommendations to which the government did not even bother to give an answer. Those recommendations were made by the Standing Committee on Official Languages at that time, with the approval of the Commissioner of Official Languages, in view of making this bill as clear as possible, in accordance with the official languages policy.
In those days, the government did not see fit to accept all the elements. The Bloc Québécois has now put them all back on the agenda. This can serve as a reference point in due time.
At the risk of repeating myself, part of the previous comments are taken from recommendations which the government did not even bother to answer. Worse still, the government seems to scoff at francophones in its answer, in a fine statement of principle that reads:
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.
However, it also says:
Bill C-47 proposed a number of amendments to the Air Canada Public Participation Act that would have restored many of the linguistic obligations at a number of these entities in the Air Canada family of companies to the same level that existed prior to restructuring.
The government has simply presented a bill identical to C-47. Bill C-29 has the same shortcomings that were recognized by the government. That is rather interesting. Is that not an unbelievably boorish way to behave toward the French language? I say that for the simple reason that the flaws of one become the flaws of the other when power is acquired. This is rather deplorable. The Bloc Québécois, together with all the hon. members who are committed to doing so, will ensure that this bill respects the Official Languages Act to the letter when it comes to Air Canada.
There is nonetheless an injustice toward Air Canada and there needs to be better protection of the workers and users. Most of all the need to provide a bilingual air service and the opportunity for francophone workers to work in their language are the best arguments in favour of the obligations imposed on Air Canada. However, these reasons do not explain why this corporation alone has to be subject to these restrictions. It would be appropriate to consider the opportunity of imposing the same rules of the game to all the players in the industry, including Air Canada Jazz, by leveling their obligations up and not down. Bill C-44 could be the vehicle for this reform.
In that vein, the current Prime Minister promised during the 2004 election campaign—which was not so long ago—that under the Conservatives, which is the party currently in power, all the airlines would be required to offer services in both official languages. This answers the question asked earlier by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works, who, I presume, is listening to my speech from his office.
That is also Air Canada's point of view.
This is also an opportunity for everyone, in other words, one rule for all in a world where there is air service. Everyone living in Canada or Quebec, regardless of the point of departure or arrival within Canada, should get the same service.
Allow me to make a slightly tougher analysis of the bill. The bill has only seven clauses. However, only one, clause 5, is really relevant. It provides the following additions to the Air Canada Public Participation Act. When I talk about the act, I will refer to it as such.
By adding section 10.2 to the act, the government brings under the Official Languages Act the corporations that used to be an integral part of Air Canada. This includes, based on our interpretation and that of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, Air Canada Technical Services. By the way, Mr. Speaker, you will be stunned—and you might fall off your chair—to learn that the Air Canada Technical Services website is not even available in French.
It is completely appalling. Let us continue. Among other things, Air Canada Ground Handling Services takes care of passenger check-in, baggage handling and refuelling. There are also Air Canada Online Services and Air Canada Cargo. By regulation, the government can name those corporations. That is the only difference between Bill C-47 and Bill C-29.
Moreover, this section provides that parts IV, VIII, IX and X of the Official Languages Act, regarding service delivery in both official languages and implementation of the act, will apply to Air Canada Jazz. It is worth noting that, in the past, this subsidiary was not technically covered by the Official Languages Act. This aspect of the bill is positive. Unfortunately, Air Canada Jazz is not subject to parts V (language of work), VI (equal participation of English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians) and VII (development of communities and linguistic duality), in accordance with a legislative change adopted in 2000. Finally, the new corporations of the group that will offer air service will also be subject to it except if they only offer services abroad.
Let me continue the review of the bill. By adding clause 10.3 to the act, the government is proposing to force the body corporate ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. to serve the public and communicate with it in both official languages. However, that obligation is not imposed by virtue of the Official Languages Act. Moreover, the corporation must maintain its head office in the Greater Montreal area.
Finally, the obligation to keep Air Canada's head office In Montreal and its maintenance centres in Montreal, Winnipeg and Mississauga continues to apply, as do the company's obligations under the Air Canada Public Participation Act and the Official Languages Act.
It is obvious that the bill exists for good reasons. Maybe it is not perfect, but we have an official languages committee. There are people of good faith in this House who, I am convinced—or I hope, should I say—will make sure that the Standing Committee on Official Languages, which is the standing committee created by virtue of the Official Languages Act, is put back on track. That committee exists to ensure the respect—I repeat “respect”—of the English and French realities of Canada. It exists particularly to ensure the respect of people who want to speak, work, receive services and be represented by the House of Commons and by the Canadian Parliament.
Keeping this in mind, the House of Commons must absolutely do all it can to ensure the operation of the official languages committee and to make sure that it properly represents all the Canadians who elected 308 members to this place. We have been elected to ensure that bills like this one can be studied in committee to promote the status of the official languages in this Parliament, in this government and in Canada.
