Quebec ready for court fight over Aveos jobs

The Quebec government has served Air Canada president Calin Rovinscu withlegal notice, demanding to know what he intends to do to maintain aircraft maintenance services in Montreal, in light of the closure of Aveos Flight Performance Inc.

Quebec Justice Minister Jean-Marc Fournier saidTuesday thatfederal legislation passed in 1988 legally obliges Air Canada to maintain such services in Montreal, as well as in Winnipeg and Mississauga, Ont.

The legal notice gives Air Canada 10 days to reply, and Fournier said if the government doesn't receive a satisfactory answer by then, it will go to court over the matter.

The federal government has said it does not believe court action against Air Canada would work to force the airline to keep maintenance jobs in Montreal, but on that point, Fournier was blunt.

"We don't share their conclusion," he said. "Is that clear?"

Fournier said his ministry is in discussion withjustice department officialsin Manitoba, but he could not say if Manitoba would also undertake legal proceedings against Air Canada.

Search is on for Aveos' replacement

On another front, Economic Development Minister Sam Hamad said the government is actively seeking a company to replace Aveos and rehire the company's workforce.

"We're working with partners like Investment Quebec and le Fonds de Solidarit in order to find a company that could be ready to sub-contract work from Air Canada," Hamad said in a joint news conference with Fournier.

Air Canada is part of those talks, Fournier added.

"We are ready to help," Fournier concluded, but the government's bottomline is "for those jobs to be maintained in Montreal."