Federal government working on
legislation to keep Air Canada bilingual
Nelson Wyatt
Canadian Press
Thursday, March 03, 2005
MONTREAL (CP) - The federal government is working on legislation to keep companies created by Air Canada's restructuring bilingual and their head offices in Montreal, Transport Minister Jean Lapierre said Monday.
"We want to preserve the status quo on Air Canada," he said at a news conference after addressing a business luncheon. Lapierre said the legislation, called the Air Canada Public Participation Act, will be ready soon but did not specify a time frame. He also did not elaborate on its contents, saying, "When the bill is ready, we'll have all those technical details."
Lapierre's comments came as Air Canada transferred some mainline routes to its Jazz regional carrier starting with the summer schedule.
The airline said last week the realignment will allow the Jazz to add non-stop flights and replace some turboprop aircraft with jets.
The transfer of regional jets to Jazz is part of agreements with unions reached during Air Canada's restructuring while under bankruptcy protection.
Air Canada emerged from bankruptcy protection last September after most of its debt was erased and shareholders lost all their investment.
Besides separate companies such as Air Canada Jazz and Aeroplan, Air Canada has created Air Canada Technical Services, Air Canada Cargo and Air Canada Groundhandling as separate entities as part of its restructuring.
Lapierre said Monday the carrier's structure "has the air of a Christmas tree" and noted the main airline is "not a little box" in an elaborate structure.
Air Canada has said it plans to continue offering bilingual service because it's good business sense but has pointed out that operating in two languages is an expensive obligation its competitors don't have.
Lapierre didn't leave any doubts about his Liberal government's position on the issue.
"The principle of status quo - period - this is what's going to be respected," he said.
He said the government had been working on the bill since the election last June.
"I'm ready to table it as soon as possible."
In his speech, Lapierre reiterated his support for negotiations on a new "open skies" treaty between Canada and the United States.
Under the proposal, Canadians could use U.S. carriers to fly between Canadian cities within a few years and U.S. domestic air routes could be open to Canadian airlines.
"I call it open skies with open eyes," he said. "I believe Air Canada and WestJet and all the other companies are ready for the American market. They want to be part of this new global environment.
"We're not looking only at the States. We're looking at having open skies agreements with States, with the European Union, possibly with India and also I'm going down to China to try to also enlarge our deal with China because the potential there is great."
© The Canadian Press 2005
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