Question Period Note: Francophone flight training schools

A flight school that trains 33% of French-speaking commercial pilots is in trouble in Quebec because of fee increases imposed by Aéroports de Montréal.

• The Government of Canada recognizes the importance of protecting French in Canada, including in Quebec.
• That is why, in the recent Speech from the Throne, we renewed our commitment to reintroduce legislation to strengthen the Official Languages Act.
• I encourage airport authorities, including Aéroports de Montréal, to adopt practices that promote linguistic equity.

• A flight school that trains 33% of French-speaking commercial pilots is in trouble in Quebec because of fee increases imposed by Aéroports de Montréal (ADM).
• Local airport authorities, such as ADM, are non-profit, non-share capital corporations managed by a fully autonomous board of directors.
• Airport authorities are not subject to Part VII of the Official Languages Act (Act), but they are subject to Parts IV (Communications with and Services to the Public), V (Language of Work), VI (Participation of English-Speaking and French-Speaking Canadians), VIII (Powers, Duties and Functions of the Treasury Board with Respect to Official Languages), IX (Commissioner of Official Languages) and X (Court Remedies) of the Act.
• Under the current Act (Section 43) "The Minister of Canadian Heritage shall take such measures as the Minister considers appropriate to advance the equality of status and use of English and French in Canadian society and, in particular, may take such measures as […] (f) encourage and cooperate with the business community, labour organizations, […] to provide services in both English and French and to foster the recognition and use of those languages’.”
• ADM, which manages Mirabel airport, says it has a $400 million shortfall and is "reviewing certain fees. Because of the pandemic, ADM will now charge $65 per landing for piston aircraft, increasing the annual fee per aircraft from $540 to $38,000. Schools will have to increase student fees by 25%.
o ADM spokeswoman Anne-Sophie Hamel told the press, "We operate on a user-pay model, we have to make sure that everyone pays their fair share for the use of our facilities, because we have to upgrade them, we have to have a safe environment, so that comes with a cost."
o Cargair president Josée Prud'homme points out that the fees charged are much higher than elsewhere in the country. For example, the Vancouver airport charges only 20% of the full fare to flight schools.
• The federal government owns the airport land, but management, operations and development are contracted out to local airport authorities. ADM has a long-term lease with Transport Canada that specifies its obligations and certain aspects of its operations. Transport Canada closely supervises ADM and monitors its operations on an ongoing basis. However, fees are set by the airport authority and the federal government does not set or review fees.
• Since 2016, Cargair schools and the Aeronautical Academy have been operating out of Mirabel Airport.
o Cargair has between 15 and 20 employees and 100 students;
o Aeronautical Academy has 40 employees and 300 students.

None