Mr. Chair, it rather disturbs me that such numbers are being bandied about. There are 1,600 licensees and 1,300 complaints, which would be about three-quarters of a complaint from each licensee. I assume there are really only several major carriers in this country.
Overbooking is one of the problems. When you go to the airport and they suddenly say your flight is not available, it's a serious complaint. A businessperson in Toronto or in Ottawa could go to the airport for six, which I've had happen to me. They'll say the flight's not available because it's overbooked and they'll send you out the next morning. Those are the kinds of complaints we like to talk about.
I'm rather amazed too at the resistance our witnesses have to us as legislators putting it into the legislation. It doesn't seem to be the way that....
We have a Parliament in this country, with people around the table elected by Canadians. In Atlantic Canada we have a serious problem because it's literally a monopolistic company we're dealing with in terms of flying from here to home or flying back.
I think it's good evidence that we should put it into this legislation to make sure, as an agency, there is supervision of the service being provided. They get a licence from us. They should provide a satisfactory level of service to Canadians.
Why do we mention 1,600 licensees? Could the witness tell us why it's 1,600? How many are active in terms of getting complaints from those 1,600? Could I count them on one hand or two hands? Are there 1,000 different complaints from different licensees?
Alain, maybe you could tell me what we're talking about here. I assume there are ten major carriers at the very most.