Is the only option that the government step in and essentially subsidize these carriers to provide service, as in the example of Quebec? It seems that in the case of both Greyhound and the regulated air sector prior to the 1980s, there was a bit of a social contract whereby companies got access to the very profitable larger volume routes in exchange for providing basic service to communities with very small markets. Certainly, that was the case with bus service in this country, but the government has moved away from that interventionist approach towards this idea that competition is going to save us all.
It seems like the big loser here in both cases is rural Canada, because rural Canada's small markets aren't as profitable, and when there are decisions to be made—and we saw this during the pandemic—theirs are the first routes to get cut. How does the government intervene on behalf of rural Canada to say, no, this is an important part of the fabric of our country and we're going to stand up for rural people and ensure they have affordable basic transportation? I would say that right now, people have worse passenger transportation in northern B.C. than they have had in 70 years.