Mr. Speaker, the monopoly that exists in airline travel in eastern Canada has resulted in Air Canada becoming an arrogant, overbearing, corporate bully with little or no understanding of customer service or regional needs.
What used to be a one and one-half hour flight from Charlottetown to Ottawa when I was first elected in 1988 can now be an overnight trip. A flat tire in Halifax at 4.30 in the afternoon can mean an overnight stay in Montreal because Air Canada dropped its connection to Ottawa. Flights are cancelled without warning and customers are expected to be happy.
I used to feel slighted as a customer if all I got was a sandwich or a bag of nuts to eat on a suppertime flight, but now I am more than happy if I can get a seat.
A good transportation system is vital to a region's economy. It is inevitable that the economic advances made by P.E.I. over the past 10 years in tourism and business diversification will be undone by the present airline monopoly which occurred after the bankruptcy of Canadian Airlines and the reduction of Air Canada seats when it took over Canadian's assets.
We need to regulate this company or, even better, we need competition in eastern Canada in the airline industry.