Transport committee  Thank you. There is currently a case before the Supreme Court of Canada that is going to be heard on October 2, on standing by non-parties to challenge some of the provinces. I think it is important to have third-party standing. It's not necessarily to encourage the complaints industry—and you might hear from somebody tomorrow who is in that business—but to provide for a legitimate challenge of systemic practices that an individual consumer cannot do.

Transport committee  Let me first just add something on the geographical links. Limiting it to flights that depart Canada would make sense if every other country in the world had equivalent protection. The European Union does, but there are a hundred other countries that do not have equal levels of protection or do not have any protection.

Transport committee  I think your question is a little outside my area of expertise. I could comment broadly in terms of consumer interests.

Transport committee  My view of the Canadian aviation marketplace is not necessarily the same as industry's, in the same way that my view of the telecommunications industry is also very different. I think we have almost virtualized monopolies. The restrictions on foreign investment in Canada are significant, and we don't have enough investment.

Transport committee  Thank you for your question. I think it's very difficult to pinpoint very specific issues, because this is really a very broad list of issues. For the lack of better words, the devil is going to be in the details, in the way these issues are implemented. For me, and this may not necessarily be something my co-panellists agree with, ministerial discretion is very important, because new issues will arise and may actually arise after the bill has been passed, which will allow CTA to add them to that specific list.

Transport committee  Good evening, Madam Chair, and committee members. I would like to acknowledge that we are on unceded Algonquin territory. Thank you for the opportunity to present and to bring a research perspective to the discussion of Bill C-49, particularly to the section on an air passenger bill of rights, which is undoubtedly an issue of importance to Canadians.