Pass Airline Bill Or Else: MP

www.blacklocks.ca, Jason Unrau
The cost of Air Canada fares may rise if cabinet doesn’t legislate new concessions for the airline, warns the Liberal parliamentary secretary for transport. A cabinet bill would sanction airline job cuts at maintenance shops in three provinces.

“Air Canada could be less competitive,” said MP Kate Young (London West, Ont.). “If Air Canada’s ability to reduce costs is limited by the Act, that could make air travel more expensive for Canadians.”

Bill C-10 An Act To Amend The Air Canada Public Participation Act rewrites the 1988 law that required the airline to operate maintenance shops in Winnipeg, Mississauga and Montréal as a condition of privatization. Amendments allow Air Canada to ship most work to the U.S. or overseas.

Young did not respond to questions on whether she had it on authority that Air Canada would raise fares if Bill C-10 is not approved. Opposition lawmakers in the House and Senate have opposed the bill as a measure to export Canadian jobs.

“The Air Canada Public Participation Act could place limits on the company’s ability to be competitive and cost-effective with implications for the traveling public and the Canadian economy,” Young told the Commons. “This does not support an approach to air transport that focuses on competition and market forces as the best means to deliver value to users.”

The bill clears Air Canada of any liability after a Québec court ruled in 2015 the airline breached its obligations in transferring maintenance work to Duluth, Minnesota when its privatized subsidiary Aveos Fleet Performance went bankrupt, costing 2,600 jobs.

“It damaged a lot of families in Winnipeg and what we’re doing now is clearing up the mess,” said Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North). In an interview, Lamoureux  acknowledged the bill is contentious.

“Even though I’m not 100 percent happy with the legislation, it’s in the provinces’ best interests,” he said; “Is it an ideal situation? No,” said Lamoureux, parliamentary secretary to the Government House Leader; “There have been some negotiations with Air Canada by different levels of government, and I feel comfortable about this.”

In the Commons, Conservative MP Dianne Watts (South Surrey, B.C.) noted the amended Act now allows Air Canada to determine the number of jobs it is required to maintain in Manitoba, Ontario and Québec. “Air Canada will be able to fulfill its obligations without having a single heavy maintenance person on staff,” Watts said.

“These are all high-end jobs vital to Canada’s aviation sector,” Watts said; “This was embedded within the agreement in 1988 because significant concessions were given by Canadian taxpayers.”

New Democrat MP Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan, B.C.) described the amendments as a handshake concession to Air Canada. “It’s the same old discourse we hear time and time again,” MacGregor said: “We have to give them carte blanche to basically move their operations out of Canada to a cheaper jurisdiction.”

Transport Minister Marc Garneau did not attend the opening of Second Reading debate on the bill. He earlier declined to meet with members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers protesting the legislation.