Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to our witnesses for being here today.
I will ask for my colleagues' forbearance while I ask some questions that are very specific to northwest B.C., but I imagine they would apply also in other areas of Canada.
In the region I represent, there's a vast discrepancy in the price air passengers pay for flights to the same hub airport. For instance, I had my staff look at the cost of flying in the first week of July, from Terrace to Vancouver, from Smithers to Vancouver and from Prince Rupert to Vancouver. The lowest fare each day to fly from Terrace to Vancouver averaged $198. From Smithers to Vancouver, it was $302, and from Prince Rupert, it was $443. These are the same airplanes, approximately the same distance and yet a dramatically different cost. This is something that has a profound impact on communities that are facing unaffordable airfares.
Ms. Acton-Gervais or Mr. Rheault, I'm curious as to whether you could explain why it costs over double to fly out of Prince Rupert and half as much again to fly out of Smithers.