Transport Committee on Nov. 5th, 2020

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Rogers, for that question.

First of all, MAI is a great organization. They have done really well in a very difficult pandemic. Even though the number of passengers has decreased, I tip my hat to them for maintaining this constitutionally compulsory service between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.

With respect to your specific question, we're looking at this extremely seriously. We are now currently waiting for MAI to submit, in the coming weeks, its corporate plan with details with respect to the building you described. We are certainly aware of the need for that. We're going to look at it very seriously.

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

Thanks, Minister.

You're correct in saying that it's a badly needed building. I know our MPs have been lobbying for that particular piece of infrastructure.

Also in budget 2019, your department and our government provided multi-year funding to support the modernization of its ferry fleet through the procurement of a new ferry. What is the approximate timeline for the new ferry that will sail between Port aux Basques and North Sydney? When do we expect to be able to see a new boat sailing on that route?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Thank you for the question.

I'm looking around to see if anybody has the specific date for a replacement ferry to service Port aux Basques. Do we have an answer on that?

I will relay that to you in a second, very quickly.

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

Okay, sure.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Mr. Rogers, do you want to go ahead with another question? The minister can get back to that in a second.

Go ahead.

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

Minister, staying with the ferry theme, I wonder if you could comment on the Madeleine ferry, which is the one, of course, between Quebec and Prince Edward Island. How does that fit into a longer-term ferry strategy?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Thank you for the question.

The Madeleine, which currently services between the Magdalen Islands and P.E.I., is 39 years old. Although we have already made the decision to have a new one built, in fact by Davie Shipbuilding, along with another ferry to replace the Holiday Island, which goes between Nova Scotia and P.E.I., those ferries will not be ready until 2026-27.

In the interim, now that the Madeleine has really begun to degrade very seriously after 39 years, we made the decision to purchase, on an interim basis, a modern, available, used ferry, which is from Spain. It will come into service next year to take over from the Madeleine, to ensure that the people living in the Magdalen Islands—I know there are 13,000 of them—will continue to have access to the mainland.

With respect to your question on MAI, the procurement process is under way with MAI. We think that delivery will probably be within a couple of years.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Minister.

Do you have a quick question, Mr. Rogers?

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

No. In fact, they were the key questions for now, and I thank the minister for his time and his direct answers.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. Rogers.

We are now going to go to Mr. Barsalou-Duval, for five minutes.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to return to the issue of regional air travel. In the midst of a crisis, NAV CANADA has imposed a 30% rate increase on all regional air carriers, which I find appalling. It has come to our attention that prior to imposing this increase, NAV CANADA had turned to your office for help, but you refused to give it.

Now, in addition to the 30% rate increase for regional carriers, who were already in trouble, NAV CANADA is considering reducing service. For example, the list includes Blanc-Sablon, Natashquan and Sept-Îles in Quebec, as well as the city of Rouyn-Noranda in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, which has been struggling for years to get acceptable service from NAV CANADA.

First of all, could you guarantee that there will be no additional service reductions for the regions of Quebec?

Second, could you get the rate increases to stop, since this is the worst time to impose them and the companies are already in trouble?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Thank you.

NAV CANADA controls air traffic. It's a completely independent organization, and because there are no planes in the air, it is losing about 80% of its revenue. The situation is improving slightly, but like any organization, it has debts to pay. So it had no choice but to increase rates, by 29%. This is another indication of the difficulties facing the airline industry in general.

In some cases, there are discounts because there are almost no services. So there are discounts in terms of the hours when services are provided. However, I can assure you that this goes through Transport Canada and that decisions made by NAV CANADA will not compromise safety.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Mr. Barsalou-Duval, do you have a quick question?

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Regional air transport is essential to the economic development of these regions. You cannot decide to close the airports in the Quebec regions. It is absolutely unthinkable, and I hope you will understand that.

I have one last question for you. I recently tabled Bill C-249 to ensure that passengers who purchased a ticket and did not receive service get a refund.

Will I be able to count on your support for this bill?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

As for your first comment on the importance of air service in the regions, we are on the same wavelength, Mr. Barsalou-Duval.

As I told you, this was in the Speech from the Throne. It is important for us to treat all citizens of Canada equally and to provide them with access to the same services, whether they live in the regions or in major centres. Rest assured that this is one of our priorities.

With respect to the issue of repayments, as I said to you, we are aware of this situation and we are looking at it in the context of a broader plan that we are developing.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Barsalou-Duval.

Mr. Bachrach, we will go to you for two and a half minutes.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, as you are aware, there are class action lawsuits in the United States against Canadian airlines for failing to refund American passengers. Those American passengers are leaning on a Department of Transportation notice from April that basically laid out the obligation of airlines to provide refunds, even in cases where flight disruptions are outside the carrier's control. This is a very different message from the statement on vouchers that came from the CTA.

I'm wondering if you can comment on what it tells you that foreign passengers appear to be better able to assert their consumer rights than Canadians are.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Bachrach, when we put together the passenger protection rights that came out about a year ago—and I was very proud of them—I'm afraid we did not anticipate that there would be a pandemic or that there would be a situation where the airlines would have to stop flying for reasons beyond their own control.

Without getting too technical, when you buy a ticket you also have to remember that there's a tariff associated with it. That's the small print, the contract between you and the airline. Very few people read these, but it's important to know that they have language with respect to certain conditions. It has resulted in some people feeling that—

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

I'm familiar with the argument, Minister. I believe you shared that with us last time we asked about this.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

All right. I'll just say that, yes, there are class action suits against the airlines. I'm not going to comment on how the airlines will deal with those.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Okay.

I'll move on very briefly to the issue of passenger complaints to the CTA. I'm wondering, Minister, if you could share with us a ballpark of how many complaints have been received by the CTA since the pandemic began.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

As a ballpark figure, I would think it's about 10,000. If you have questions about it, you can, of course, speak to the CTA.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Mr. Bachrach, you have time for just a quick question.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

I'm wondering if you know how many of those 10,000 have been investigated by the CTA.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Again, I would ask you to refer that question to the CTA.