Transport Committee on June 1st, 2017

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Thank you.

It'll seem like I'm jumping from subject to subject, but it's because I have a range of things I'd like to discuss in these five minutes.

In recent weeks and months, we've heard representatives from airport administrations and municipal councils take a position on future privatization of Canadian airports. The City of Montreal council, among others, has said it is against it.

Has Aéroports de Montréal taken a position on this?

[Philippe Rainville]

Absolutely.

First, I'd like to point out that airports have already been privatized. What we're talking about is the opening of capital to airports. Indeed, we are 100% financed by the debt. We could eventually open up the capital. In this way, we could have shareholders and change our status as an NPO. I don't want to talk in overly technical terms, but that's what we're talking about.

So we are totally independent and privatized. And we are very proud of our status.

It's very clear to us at ADM: if the opening of capital allows us to improve our services and reduce our costs, we will be in favour of this change. However, I admit that it hasn't yet been demonstrated that services would be improved or costs would be reduced.

We know what paying for equity costs. Investors will demand a significantly higher return on investment than current debt holders. At present, our interest rates for financing are less than 4%. But private investors would ask us for a rate of 7% or 8%. Since interest rates are low in Canada at this time, it would not be appropriate to finance them with equity.

The times are changing. At ADM, we must think about profitability. There are other things that are dragging on in our region. We would like to reopen our agreement with Transport Canada on rent, so that adjustments can be made. For example, we pay the same rent for our industrial park in Mirabel as for the Montréal-Trudeau airport, where there is—

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

I'll interrupt you there, since it may be related to the next question I want to ask you.

People always say that, proportionately, the costs are higher at the Montréal-Trudeau airport than at other Canadian airports.

Is it related to the money you have to invest in security, or is it the situation you're talking about?

[Philippe Rainville]

The same Transport Canada regulations apply to the Montréal-Trudeau airport. All things being equal, the costs of safety and security are the same as elsewhere.

The fact of having two airport platforms represents an additional cost. That is what I wanted to emphasize. We inherited this situation. We would like to reopen the agreement with Transport Canada.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Thank you.

During our study of aviation safety, many witnesses told us that a great number of incidents had happened at the end of the runway. I'll broaden the scope of the subject here; we're not in an airport, but still, the planes land and take off in your region. The Transportation Safety Board has even made a recommendation that the runways be extended so that a type of gravel trap can be installed. I don't know what that is, exactly.

Has that been done already?

If not, in practical terms, given the land available, is it possible to do this in Montreal?

If it isn't possible, what can we do?

[Philippe Rainville]

We already have what we call the RESA. I'll let Mr. Pharand tell you about it.

[Pierre-Paul Pharand]

The standards for our RESAs, that is, our runway end safety areas, already exceed those of Transport Canada and are in line with those of ICAO. Space isn't a problem for us. In fact, the situation at the end of the runway is not a problem at the Montréal-Trudeau airport.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

As for the—

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Mr. Aubin. I'm sorry, but you're out of time.

We'll try to get back to you, if we can.

Mr. Badawey.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

I think Mr. Aubin is on a great line of questioning. I'm interested in what more he has to ask and some of the answers, so I'm going to allow my time for Mr. Aubin.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Do you mean all of your time?

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Yes.

Robert, go ahead. Keep it going.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Badawey.

I wanted to ask one or two more questions. It has to do with fire services at airports.

When landing or taking off, we see many fire trucks. People really like it when they're in the garage, because it means that everything is good.

Does the same fire service handle both the service on the runways and in the airport itself?

[Philippe Rainville]

I'll let Mr. Pharand explain this to you in detail.

[Pierre-Paul Pharand]

Our service specializes in runway operations, in other words, all operations related to aircraft. However, if there was an incident in the terminal, which is essentially our livelihood, firefighters would intervene. They are trained and equipped to act in both cases, but their main mission is focused on runways and aircraft.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

I'll rephrase my question so it's more specific. If there was an attack at the airport, something no one wants to happen, would the Montreal firefighters be the first responders or would it be the airport firefighters?

[Pierre-Paul Pharand]

In all cases, both services are called. They work together.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Do they have a joint communications system? As we saw on Parliament Hill during an event that I don't necessarily want to recount or recall, the various police forces, be they the municipal police, the RCMP or the police officers in the House, did not have the same communications system, which made the operation rather difficult.

[Pierre-Paul Pharand]

In our case, the problem of communication doesn't exist because the principle of confidentiality among firefighters doesn't exist, unlike the police.

Our firefighters and the city firefighters are called to respond to incidents extremely frequently. So they are used to working together, not to mention the many exercises that we hold regularly.

So there is no problem when it comes to communication and coordination.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

What are the delays if you have to use the municipality's services, either police or firefighters? I'm assuming the municipal fire station isn't necessarily close to the airport.

[Pierre-Paul Pharand]

Actually, the municipal fire station is on the other side of the Dorval roundabout. Firefighters can be on site in three or four minutes if they're at the station.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

You have three and a half minutes left, Mr. Badawey.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Great questions, Robert, in terms of the tiered responses.

My question has a lot to do with that communication. How well do the different services work together, the RCMP, CBSA, and the local services, such as the police, ambulance, fire? Is it a tiered response that happens? Do they all get tiered, or is it just one communication that goes out?

Then once an incident is under way, are they in constant communication? Are they constantly working together? Is there a protocol? How does that work? How well does it work? Is it working at all?

[Philippe Rainville]

I took the position on January 1, 2017, and one of the first things I looked at was our emergency measures. Although I had been at ADM for a decade, I was still concerned about this because of my new role.

The events in Fort Lauderdale showed us the coordination required in cases like that. There were also the incidents in Brussels. In both cases, we sent our people there to learn lessons. I was reassured by what was reported to me.

I would ask my colleague, Mr. Pharand, to summarize the coordination efforts to reassure you, as he managed to reassure me.