Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to all the witnesses.
This is where I get to vent a bit, finally. Two weeks ago I jumped on a plane in Ottawa. I flew to Pearson Airport. I got off said plane and my flight was cancelled, so I was given a Crowne Plaza certificate to stay in a hotel and two $10 vouchers, which are great because they last a long time in the airport, for sure.
I had a 9:40 reservation for the next morning to get on a plane to get to Windsor, which was cancelled. Then I had a 4 p.m. flight to get to Windsor, which was cancelled. Then I had a 7 p.m. flight, which was cancelled. All of that said, at 9:40 a.m. on Sunday, one finally went to Windsor. What did I end up doing? Having some kind of a crystal ball, I decided to jump in an Uber on Friday night so I could get home to my meetings.
That's Chris's frustration, but what's more important than Chris's frustration is the frustration of the business owners—I used to sit on the international trade committee—who this spring flew into Windsor and sat on the tarmac for hours. They were there to finalize a major million-dollar deal for automotive, and they couldn't get a CATSA member or CBSA officer to clear them off the tarmac in Windsor because one of their apps didn't work, through no fault of their own. They then got back in said plane and flew back to the United States, and Canada forever lost their business.
Mr. Lawford, you said that labour shortages have played a major role. I heard you say that, and you went on to say, “there were problems with other aspects of the government”. What other aspects of the government were you talking about, sir?