Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to offer our point of view.
As you just mentioned, Mr. Chair, I represent a committee of stakeholders including wholesalers, carriers, and freight handlers, as well as our region's airport. I am accompanied by Mr. Frappier, who is the director general of Valpiro, a company that has specialized in preparing cargo for shipment to areas of the north for more than 30 years. The company is wholly owned by the James Bay Cree.
Almost three-quarters of the total Canadian volume in the Food Mail program is checked through Val-d'Or, where the closest 10,000 ft. runway to Nunavut is located. Val-d'Or's strategic location also allows trucking between Val-d'Or and the end of the road at La Grande Rivière airport. The trip can be done in one stretch, with all regulations followed.
We are convinced that abandoning Val-d'Or as an entry point and discontinuing delivery schedules threaten not only the fair treatment of retailers but also the success of the intended model.
First, a word about entry points. Currently, the system has 19 entry points. Eighteen of those points handle 25% of all cargo sent under the Food Mail Program. Val-d'Or receives and ships 75% of the entire program. We feel that this is a logical result of our geography.
The situation in the west of Canada is not the same as in the east, but the same, one-size-fits-all solution is being attempted. Arguing that entry points should be closer to the large centres to the south will simply cause costs to rise more. It is well known and clearly documented that transporting goods by road is 5 to 10 times cheaper than by air.
The air carrier that has been awarded the exclusive contract to transport goods has no aircraft based in Val-d'Or, though it does in Yellowknife and in La Grande Rivière. So that company's shuttling expenses should not be considered in the argument on costs.
We believe that the operational model that we have developed at Val-d'Or's small airport could probably not be reproduced in large centres for several reasons. First, we load the cargo onto the plane directly from the refrigerated warehouse. Preparations for loading take place in the refrigerated facility itself. Deliveries from suppliers are not subject to delays caused by heavy road or air traffic either. Our infrastructure and our practices at Val-d'Or allow the cold and freshness chain to remain intact, a chain that is often broken at the destination.
The other point that we want to raise is the issue of delivery schedules. By abandoning the current program, the advantage of a reasonable balance of delivery time and transportation costs is lost, especially for villages that come after the primary destinations. That balance is seen in freshness and in costs, but it is also seen in the frequency of flights for passengers. So small retailers and consumers are treated fairly.
The laws of the market lead us to believe that retailers with the greatest volume will get the first choice of delivery days. Costs are not the only issue. In our view, a one-size-fits-all solution to the various problems of this program in different parts of the country is not likely to achieve the objectives of the program.
For regions served from Val-d'Or, the core of this program, which has evolved over several decades, remains a fair and effective way of serving consumers through healthy competition, between carriers specifically.
We stand by the approach that we suggested as a solution to replace the current program. That is the establishment of a body whose mission would be to manage the program and to accredit the various suppliers by making them accountable by contract.
We believe that the department's objectives can be integrated into the structure of the current program, and we suggest that the operational advantages of the current program be considered before any replacement solutions whose effectiveness is only theoretical.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.