Evidence of meeting #141 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was industry.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'll let Mr. Wilson finish his answer to the question that my hon. colleague Mr. Liepert asked.
12:35 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, NAV CANADA
I was essentially finished.
There are certainly similarities. As you've heard from Mr. McKenna, I believe industry supports this. I know that the airports support it. There's obviously lots to negotiate, as I understand.
We don't have a horse in this race; we're outside of it. But yes, there certainly are a lot of similarities to the Nav Canada situation and model.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
That's an excellent comment. What advice can you give us?
What are the best practices, the dos and don'ts that we should look into?
What should be done to make this process as smooth as possible?
12:35 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, NAV CANADA
Again, it's not for me to intervene in negotiations between the parties. What particular interests or concerns each side may have are not for me to comment on.
12:35 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, NAV CANADA
I can tell you that the legislation that enabled the transfer to Nav Canada has survived the test of time. It has remained unamended since 1995.
In terms of the process of negotiations, it's an ambitious agenda that is being set out. There are some concerns on the side of industry about that. I think the parties need to move forward expeditiously, but negotiations will be what they are.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Thank you.
Ms. Fitchett, what importance does CATSA place on innovation? What obstacles are preventing it from being more innovative?
12:35 p.m.
Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, Canadian Air Transport Security Authority
Innovation is extremely important to CATSA. In terms of technology and efficiencies, we obviously have a fixed budget that is provided through parliamentary appropriations. We try to do everything we can within that budget to innovate and to provide the best wait-time service levels that we can.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Thank you.
Ms. Wiebe, you talked about innovation. How will the new model improve passenger services and lead to efficiency gains?
12:35 p.m.
Director General, Air Policy, Department of Transport
Thank you for the question.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
12:35 p.m.
Director General, Air Policy, Department of Transport
Thank you.
In terms of the model that created Nav Canada, we saw the ability of this new corporation to have stable funding, to have the ability to do long-term planning. They were able to be more flexible and nimble in terms of taking a look at new technologies. When we took a look at how we could apply all these elements similarly to a new corporation that could do airport security screening, we felt that was the recipe we wanted for the entity that would provide this important service to Canadians.
12:40 p.m.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Is it fair to think that an improvement in efficiency could have a negative impact on passenger safety?
12:40 p.m.
Director General, Air Policy, Department of Transport
Thank you for the question.
Absolutely not. This is a point that we emphasize every time we provide a briefing on this proposal. Security will not change. The Minister of Transport will continue to have his or her responsibilities with regard to the aviation security regulations. Transport Canada will continue to have their obligations and responsibilities with regard to the oversight of the operations of CATSA or the new corporation with regard to those regulations.
Security will not change.
12:40 p.m.
Liberal
May 7th, 2019 / 12:40 p.m.
Director General, Air Policy, Department of Transport
Again, I feel sorry for Mr. Wilson, because I'm going to keep referring to the Nav Canada model.
If we take a look at what Nav Canada was able to achieve in terms of being more nimble, more flexible, they were able, over time, to actually reduce their service charges. They were able to bring new technology to bear in terms of the provision of those services—an essential service to the safety of Canada's air navigation services.
That's what we want for the new corporation that will provide airport security screening.
12:40 p.m.
NDP
Robert Aubin NDP Trois-Rivières, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'd like to thank each of the guests for being here.
Again, I have more questions in my head than time to ask them. So I would ask you to provide concise answers.
My first question is for you, Mr. Wilson, because NAV CANADA is still the model being proposed to us. To be able to make a fair comparison, could you please tell me, if you remember, what the financial value and size of the infrastructure that the government transferred to you was. Remind me again of the year it was done, so that we can understand the passage of time.
12:40 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, NAV CANADA
The transfer was in 1996. The assets that were transferred were literally across the entire country, from coast to coast to coast. We have over 2,000 pieces of property in places of this great country that...I don't even know where they are. We have something like 16 linear feet of documents to document all of those assets and those properties.
The purchase price that was paid by Nav Canada was not based on the value of the assets. It was based on a different approach to valuing the business. It was on a discounted cash flow basis. It didn't really bear a relation to the assets that were coming over, given the state of the assets that were at that time.
12:40 p.m.
NDP
Robert Aubin NDP Trois-Rivières, QC
Can we have an idea of the size of this transaction or was it done under cover of secrecy?
12:40 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, NAV CANADA
During the negotiation process, there was confidentiality around the process certainly, but since then, by virtue of the provisions of the Access to Information Act, which makes lots of information in the hands of the government available, and our own public disclosure through securities regulations and those sorts of things, most, if not all, of the details of our transaction are publicly available.
12:40 p.m.
NDP
Robert Aubin NDP Trois-Rivières, QC
Thank you.
I'll come back to you, Ms. Fitchett or Ms. Hamilton. You can choose who will answer.
You come back here year after year to get the credits approved. For everyone in the industry, it seems obvious that the amounts collected for security fees and what is paid to CATSA to provide services annually don't match. This means that more money is collected for security measures than is invested in the system.
If you were given the full amount of money collected, would you be able to meet the standards that the industry wants to achieve?
