Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the committee, and committee staff.
Again, for the record, I'm David Goldstein, president and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. I'm joined this afternoon by Chris Jones, our vice-president of public affairs.
TIAC was formed over 70 years ago and stands today as the only national organization that represents the entire cross-section of the tourism and travel industry, which includes tour operators, accommodations, convention facilities, airport authorities, airlines, and passenger rail.
It is indeed a pleasure for me to be here with you today to examine the provisions of Bill C-9 that relate to the tourism sector, as this is my first standing committee appearance in my new role.
In our brief time today, we want to situate the proposed increase in the air travellers security charge as being incongruent with the federal tourism strategy announced by the Prime Minister on June 4, 2009.
Time does not permit us today to go through the fulsome framework outlined by the Prime Minister. However, this holistic approach was well received by our industry, and we hope that the continued work and consultations done by Minister Moore and his officials will provide important benchmarks over the following months.
Of the four pillars outlined by the Prime Minister, the one key to today's discussion is this: “Facilitating ease of access and movement for travellers, while ensuring the safety and integrity of Canada's borders”. This objective, as read in the context of increasing security fees, correctly implies that Canada's government will do two things: ensure the security of our aviation system, and facilitate ease of access for travellers.
Ensuring security and safety for travel and the general public goes without question. But we respectfully submit that the method chosen to finance our prospective security initiatives is inconsistent with other like jurisdictions. And it is contributing to the erosion of our competitiveness as a nation in the area of tourism, one of the fastest-growing sectors in the global economy.
The vitality of our sector and the ability to compete for a share of international business and leisure arrivals have already been significantly impacted by the plethora of taxes, fees, rents, and user charges the federal government levies on our sector. Last year, the federal government extracted $386 million in ATSC charges alone from travellers using our airports. With increases to our aviation security resulting from the planned introduction of body scanners and other screening technologies, this burden is set to increase.
By way of direct example, the impact of these proposals would increase the fees for a family of four from outside Canada by over $100. In an era of choice, we worry that they will choose to go elsewhere. In an environment of heightened price sensitivity and increased competition, Canada should not be increasing structural barriers. Inbound visitation to many of our key target markets is falling or flat, and our aviation sector is struggling with reduced load factors, lower yields, volatile fuel prices, and higher debt-servicing charges.
In our view, security is akin to policing. We don't levy policing costs solely on an individual shop owner, and in the same way, we shouldn't tax individual travellers. Aviation security is a public good that benefits all Canadians, and its costs should be borne by the national treasury.
Take the United States as a comparison, where a full 63% of the operating costs of the Transportation Security Administration are covered by a direct appropriation from the federal government. In Canada, the passenger fee-based system we rely on exclusively has become a deterrent to travel and visitation in this country. It prevents our sector from growing and making its full potential contribution to the Canadian economy.
In our view, the proposed security fee methodology will work at cross-purposes with the federal tourism strategy, which is built on a solid foundation and specifically stresses the need to look at issues in a holistic way.
Like many of my colleagues who have appeared before you, we believe that aviation security and safety are a critical public good, but which, if we are not careful, could choke off the supply of domestic and foreign travellers that are the lifeblood of the Canadian tourism sector. This is a sector that represents $71 billion to the Canadian economy, over 1.6 million direct and indirect jobs, and tens of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses from coast to coast to coast.
We need, in our view, a new security model that reflects shared collective benefits, that is sustainable in the long term, and that is better aligned with the approach of the TSA.
We thank you for this opportunity to appear. We look forward to your questions.