Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I want to acknowledge Mayor Andrews and Mr. Goudie from the wonderful riding of Labrador, who have joined us today at committee, and to thank them for their presentations; and also to acknowledge Mr. Beaulieu from The North West Company, and to thank you as well for your presentation.
I think all of us who live in the north see air services as an essential service. It's essential not just to communities that are isolated and remote but also to communities that are partially isolated in terms of their access to the outside world. Whenever you have a service that is essential, obviously, it has to be affordable and available to people. This has been the issue not just in Labrador but across many northern regions in Canada in the last number of years.
It could be for a number of reasons, and I guess that's what we're exploring here. It could be the merger of a number of airlines. It could be the shortage of personnel and pilots, but what we know is that we need to make some changes if this service is actually going to do what it's intended to do, and that is support people in northern and rural regions.
My questions, I guess, are going to be focused on that. My colleague asked questions about Alaska. One of the things that Alaska has that I know my riding doesn't have in Labrador or most northern and Arctic regions in Canada is competitive airlines, and that has been one of the drawbacks. There's no doubt about that.
Today I can book a flight to the Arctic of Iceland for cheaper than I can book a ticket to the Arctic of Canada. I can go to Iceland almost any week for cheaper than I can go to my riding, and that is a fundamental problem. Mr. Goudie outlined what some of those costs are.
I'd like to ask a couple of questions to our guest today. One, what do you see as the role of government to ensure that there is a more competitive market and more affordable rates for consumers in northern and remote areas of Canada, areas that need this essential service?
I'll start with Mr. Goudie.