Evidence of meeting #12 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was international.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Newton—North Delta, BC
I'll be sure to provide the information so you can deal with it at your level, however you want.
5:25 p.m.
Bloc
Mario Laframboise Bloc Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
The noise problem at airports is first and foremost the responsibility of airport authorities. In Montreal, they face the same situation. In fact, on the island of Montreal, there is the same problem at the Montreal-Trudeau Airport. If we call on citizens to appear before the committee to resolve the issue, that could seriously impede our work.
I have no objections to discussing the issue, but the airport authorities are really the only witnesses we can call to appear with regard to the noise issue, in order for them to explain why they made changes to their air paths, etc. Regarding the Montreal-Trudeau Airport, there are petitions with thousands of signatures. If we call on people to appear before the committee, they will all come and tell us that the situation has to change and the airport needs to be shuttered. So that is not an option. We would have to find another way to go about this. We, as committee members, cannot solve the problem, especially since those independent airport authorities were established by the Liberals themselves.
Therefore, we need to study the issue as a committee and see how the problem can be resolved.
5:30 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Merv Tweed
Thank you.
Mr. Volpe, I was going to summarize the discussion, but I'll give you 20 seconds.
5:30 p.m.
Liberal
Joe Volpe Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
I cannot let my colleague from the Bloc leave without making a comment. He is absolutely correct in saying that the issue is under the purview of the airport authorities. However, nothing prevents us from discussing this as a potential matter of study. Therefore, if a member of the Liberal Party expresses concerns about this issue, then I believe it is quite legitimate for us to discuss this. We might discuss this as future business at our next meeting.
5:30 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Merv Tweed
Thank you for those warm comments. We will talk to some of our colleagues about the issue and bring it forward at a subcommittee meeting.
Seeing no other comments, the meeting is adjourned.