Evidence of meeting #20 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 north.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Former Advisor, Canada Transportation Act Review Panel, As an Individual
Without these investments, the bee will always be limited.
Conservative
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Unfortunately, natural resources are a bit like the seasons: there are flowers in the summer, but none in the fall. So these forecasts may fluctuate.
Has the government drawn up a list of projects and priorities for northern development; do you know if there are concrete projects, with deadlines?
Former Advisor, Canada Transportation Act Review Panel, As an Individual
There are certainly lists of projects, especially within the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency. We mentioned some projects in our report. They had been chosen by the governments of the northern territories, as well as by the communities. I think that the list of projects we selected is in general the same as that of the federal government.
Conservative
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
And in these lists, did you see any concrete achievement intentions, or deadlines?
Former Advisor, Canada Transportation Act Review Panel, As an Individual
Not to my knowledge.
Former Advisor, Canada Transportation Act Review Panel, As an Individual
No, I did not.
Conservative
Conservative
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
In the report on air transport, I read a lot about the National Airports System. There is also a group of small airports that feed the national airports. Less was said about them, but in the regions that is a very important issue. I am thinking of the Gaspé region and of several small regions in Quebec that have an airport. Personally, I consider them underused in a vast country like Canada. Is there some particular reason why that aspect was not studied very much in the report?
Former Advisor, Canada Transportation Act Review Panel, As an Individual
We studied regional airport services, but most of these airports are not a part of the National Airports System.
Former Advisor, Canada Transportation Act Review Panel, As an Individual
We focused our efforts on studying the airports that are a part of the network.
Conservative
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Do you not think that it could be worthwhile to do a more in-depth analysis of the contribution of the small airports to the national system?
Former Advisor, Canada Transportation Act Review Panel, As an Individual
Absolutely.
Because of the deadlines we were given, we were unable to study all of the airports and all of the files we would have liked to look at more in depth.
Conservative
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
That's a suggestion for a next study. If ever they call on your services again, could you keep that suggestion in mind?
Former Advisor, Canada Transportation Act Review Panel, As an Individual
Absolutely.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Thank you, Madam Chair. I will be sharing some time with Mr. Badawey.
Mr. Dee, welcome. I want to talk about ultra-low-cost airlines. We had representatives of one operation that proposes to set up a business in Canada. They mentioned that they were looking for a ministerial exemption in order to get their ownership ratio to 49% foreign-owned. They also mentioned that while these exemptions have been around for a while, none have actually ever been granted. Are you aware of the dynamic there?
Former Advisor, Canada Transportation Act Review Panel, As an Individual
I'm not sure if we had the same group appear before the panel, but we certainly heard similar representations from other interested parties who are looking at starting ultra-low-cost carrier services in Canada.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
I'll just make my questions and answers fairly brief so my partner here has an opportunity as well.
I really got the impression from these representatives that they required that level of foreign ownership to operate an ultra-low-cost airline operation. They said it was because the capital wasn't available in Canada, but I get the sense that even if the capital were available in Canada, they would still want foreign ownership. What's the dynamic at play there?
Former Advisor, Canada Transportation Act Review Panel, As an Individual
Again, I'm not sure if we heard from the same group, because it's almost like an echo. We certainly heard from a number of these interested proponents of ultra-low-cost carriers that there was a limited market and appetite in Canada to fund these types of operations, but that there were in fact examples around the world of international investors, non-Canadian investors, who would put up the capital for this type of operation. We were under some pressure in fact to look at having a limit beyond 49%, but we limited ourselves to 49% based on the experience and the rules that are currently in place in other jurisdictions, particularly in the United States where foreign ownership of air carriers isn't possible.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Then going to the concept of ultra-low-cost airlines, the one I heard from was very interested in serving secondary airports that really didn't have any regularly scheduled service. That to me seems like adding value to the marketplace, but the concern is that they would be tempted then to go head-to-head with the existing airlines, and there will be some who will worry about a race to the bottom in terms of customer service and even of safety. You know that if you get people who keep undercutting costs, there are times when the market isn't necessarily the best barometer to use for what the country needs from its air services. Did your study look at the aspect of ultra-low-cost airlines and a managed approach to their presence in our marketplace?
