Grits forge ahead with contentious Air Canada bill

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This article was published 08/06/2016 (3468 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Transport Minister Marc Garneau won’t slow the passage of Bill C-10, despite the Manitoba government stating Wednesday it won’t support the bill until it’s assured Manitoba will gain from it.

The legislation removes from the Air Canada Public Protection Act a requirement to keep heavy maintenance jobs in Winnipeg.

Air Canada would have to keep some maintenance work in the province, but the airline can decide the type of jobs, meaning it can fulfil its requirements under the law with lower-paying maintenance work than the heavy overhaul centres required by existing law.

Manitoba Justice Minister Heather Stefanson introduced a motion in the Manitoba legislature Wednesday that accused Garneau and the federal Liberals of pushing through the changes “despite clear opposition” from Manitoba and without adequate consultation with Manitoba’s aerospace industry.

The motion said the government will not support C-10 until Manitoba is assured of getting a “net benefit” in terms of investments in training, innovation and job creation.

The motion was passed unanimously later Wednesday.

Air Canada is in talks with Manitoba to create a maintenance centre of excellence and bring up to 150 new jobs to the city by next year.

In exchange, Manitoba must withdraw from the legal case against the airline for violating the law as it is written.

That lawsuit was started by Quebec in 2012 after Air Canada moved heavy maintenance work out of the country when the subsidiary doing the work in Winnipeg, Montreal and Mississauga, Ont., went bankrupt.

A Quebec court agreed the airline was violating the act and the airline was appealing to the Supreme Court. That case is on hold until July 15 while negotiations with Manitoba and Quebec continue.

Air Canada has also offered a centre of maintenance excellence for Montreal, as well as the heavy maintenance work on new jets it is buying from Bombardier.

Negotiations between the provinces and Air Canada are not finalized, and both provinces want C-10 put off until they are finished.

Garneau told the Free Press he wasn’t aware of Manitoba’s motion, but he isn’t planning to back away from the bill or slow its progress.

“I’m proceeding on the basis that Air Canada did come to an agreement, albeit with the previous government, that there would be at least 150 jobs created,” Garneau told the Free Press Wednesday.

The government forced a shorter debate on the bill at both second and third reading by voting in favour of time allocation.

It hasn’t explained why it needed to push ahead the bill so quickly, but the NDP suggested Wednesday the answer might be found in the words of Sen. André Pratte, who spoke to the bill in the Senate Tuesday.

He said the bill has to pass before the Supreme Court case might have to continue in July; he said if that case proceeds, the centres of excellence will be in jeopardy.

“As long as this legal threat is hanging over Air Canada’s head, there will be no centres of excellence,” he said.

Manitoba NDP MP Daniel Blaikie said given that the lawsuits are the only bargaining power the provinces have to get the centres of excellence, passing the law that would render the lawsuit irrelevant doesn’t make any sense.

Garneau would not say whether he agreed with Pratte.

“I’m just eager to clarify the law because I want it to be clear for Air Canada,” he said.

He said he’s confident the airline is acting in good faith in its negotiations with Manitoba and Quebec.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca