Transport Committee on Oct. 30th, 2018

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

I'm going to get you to stick your neck way out, here.

Would you advocate for the real estate industry to factor in the proximity of developments or home sales to facilities like yours, to ensure that the buyers understand what they're buying into?

[Anne Murray]

We have actually done that. We've implemented that type of program with the City of Richmond, so that when they approve new developments in high-noise areas, they oblige the developer to include noise information, both in the sales venue and on restrictions on the property. There's a covenant on the land, so that every buyer is aware of the aircraft noise there.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Sartor—

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I'm sorry, Mr. Hardie, but your time is up.

Mr. Graham, go ahead.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Massé and Ms. Marcotte, I have several questions for you about Dorval and Mirabel airports, as well as those that are located further north.

You heard the questions I put to the NAV CANADA witnesses about the Saint-Jérôme airport. There is a skydiving school at that airport that generates a lot of noise. School activities are restricted because of aircraft approaching Dorval and Mirabel Airports.

What is the current air traffic at Mirabel Airport?

[Anne Marcotte]

There are approximately 20,000 flights.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

And what kind of flights are they, generally?

[Martin Massé]

Merchandise transport, some passenger transport, and a piloting school.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

In the Mirabel Airport operational zone, is there too much traffic for skydiving activities?

[Martin Massé]

I cannot answer your question, but I can provide an answer later.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Thank you. We would appreciate that.

The Dorval Airport should continue to grow, because it has not reached full capacity. Even though the terminal was removed from the Mirabel Airport, does it still have a role to play in passenger transport in the Montreal region?

[Martin Massé]

The Mirabel Airport certainly has a role to play. It has in fact never been as large an economic development player as it is today. It employs 5,000 people. These are well-paid jobs, in technical fields or engineering. Obviously, Airbus offers an opportunity for both aviation and industrial growth at Mirabel.

If the point of your question is to see whether that airport could begin to receive passenger flights again, I would say that that does not feature at all in the plans of ADM.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

The Dorval Airport will continue to grow, and there will still be air traffic over neighbouring towns rather than in suburbs or agricultural areas. Is that correct?

[Martin Massé]

That airport will without a doubt continue to grow. As for Mirabel, it is much more populous than it was 25 or 30 years ago.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

That is also true.

Further north in my riding, at La Macaza, we have the Mont-Tremblant International Airport. That airport is not part of the airports you manage; could it play a role in air traffic management?

[Martin Massé]

I cannot answer you regarding the airport at La Macaza. I can say, however, that an airport management system has to be designed around a large city. You can see this clearly in Toronto, where you have the Pearson, Billy Bishop, Hamilton and other airports. If our Toronto colleagues were here, they would certainly say that they are an occasional relief valve, but I don't want to speak for them.

I believe the future lies in the vision of an airport management system around cities.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Would it be fair to say that the Mirabel Airport no longer receives passenger flights in large part because of the absence of rail transport?

[Martin Massé]

That is a factor.

We must also remember that for technological reasons, there was a time when flights from Europe could not go any further than Mirabel on the North American continent. That was one of the reasons why Atlanta became the biggest airport. Several years ago, airplanes began to have the technical capacity to make it to Toronto and then even further.

Of course, access is a factor as well. Highway 13 was never completed and there was no rapid public transit link. But there were also technological reasons. There was also the fact that the choice was made to build an airport without boarding platforms and passenger transfer modules. That may have been a false good idea, which was almost never repeated elsewhere.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Are you talking about the buses that went to the airport?

[Martin Massé]

Yes. Most of them now serve Dorval.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

I did take one, in fact, when I was young. It was quite interesting.

[Martin Massé]

Nostalgia is a big seller.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

I am going to continue to talk about the link between rail transport and air transport.

It is easier to take the train from Toronto to Dorval than from Montreal to Dorval. Is that a reasonable state of affairs?

[Martin Massé]

What do you mean by “easier”?

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

It is not possible to take a VIA Rail train in Montreal to go to the Dorval Airport. During the entire weekend there are only seven commuter train departures. This is one of the airports in the world that is practically impossible to reach by train. Are you going to solve that problem?