Mr. Speaker, Canadians waited two years for the government to bring in a budget. We all waited for some positive action to be taken to ensure the economic viability of our country. We waited, and in December of 2001 we received a budget, a budget that left us all disappointed.
The government had the opportunity to finally address issues directly affecting Canadians, namely taxation. Instead of helping to alleviate some of the burden of taxation on Canadians, the government chose to add to that burden.
The auditor general stated that priorities needed to be re-examined to ensure that money was spent in priority areas and that this examination could realistically lead to the termination of some areas and departments that were either wasteful or no longer priority areas. According to the government, there was not one area of wasteful spending in any government department. This meant that there was no money available to reallocate to more important areas such as national security.
The events of September 11 affected every one of us. The insecurity and fear of that day linger on. The safety and security of Canadians became a top priority, and rightly so. There were now national security issues that needed to be addressed immediately. We needed to have airport and airplane security in place to ensure the safety of Canadians.
We needed to have a government that would take the initiative to implement a plan that would ensure our safety. Instead, we were met with a government that floundered in the face of this challenge. The United States put together legislation dealing with air travel safety immediately. That same legislation was passed within 10 days of September 11. Its plan was swift and immediate.
Canadians waited for a plan, and we waited and we waited. When a plan was finally submitted, Canadians found that they would be taking care of the bill. One hundred per cent of the airport and airline security measures would be paid for by the travelling public.
The Standing Committee on Transport and Government Operations put together recommendations outlining how these new measures should be paid for.The recommendations from that committee would be fair to all involved. That recommendation stated:
All stakeholders--including airports, air carriers, airline passengers and/or residents of Canada--contribute to the cost of improved aviation security. In particular, the amounts currently spent by airports and air carriers should be continued, with appropriate adjustments for inflation. A ticket surtax could also be implemented, and any funding shortfalls could be financed out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
This recommendation sounds reasonable and fair.
Instead of implementing a sound, fair and financially feasible program, the government chose to ignore the recommendations of the committee. This is a trend that seems to have developed within the Liberal government. The arrogance is astonishing. These committees are set up to deliver fair and reasonable views and solutions that would benefit Canadians. Instead, the government chooses to ignore its committees and acts on its own.
The air security tax to be paid solely by air travellers is neither just nor fair. What is needed in the bill is balance. There must be balance among the needs of Canadians, the security needs of airports and carriers, the travelling public's ability to pay and the government's obligation to Canadians.
At a time when we have seen many air carriers struggling, the government chooses to further endanger the viability of this industry. In adding extra taxes on air travel, it will effectively be reducing the amount of air travel in this country.
We have heard the following analogy before, but it is worth repeating. The high levels of taxes on a pack of cigarettes are there to help discourage people from smoking. It only stands to reason that adding more taxes to airline tickets will then discourage people from flying. This is not fearmongering, it is a logical statement. To make a product more expensive will lead to fewer people buying that product. If this theory were not true, I would be driving a convertible instead of a compact.
If it were only passengers who were to benefit from these new measures, it would make a little more sense to have them paying the bill. That is not the case. These new safety measures will be to the benefit of air carriers and their staff, employees of airports, including shops and services found in those airports, and to the general public.
To force only one group of people to pay for security is unfair and unreasonable.
The amount of this new tax, $24 for a round trip, is excessive. In some instances it constitutes a full 58% of the total ticket price. If the government cannot see the debilitating effect that it would have on the air industry, then it is not looking hard enough.
In the United States passengers pay $2.50. Figuring in the exchange rate this is still far below what Canadians are expected to pay. In airports such as Saskatoon, which is in my riding, the amount of tax expected to be collected from passengers would exceed that airport's annual operating budget. Amendments to the bill must be made before it is implemented. The Canadian Alliance proposes that the maximum tax collected from any given airport should not exceed 50% of that airport's annual operating budget.
Changes to the bill need to be made to adequately reflect the various airports in Canada. There are some small regional airports that cannot support the burden that this new tax would present. Revisions should be made that would see a progressive tax being applied, 50 that the amount of the tax would be a percentage of the ticket price. There is no reason that a short flight from Saskatoon to Regina should be subject to the same tax level as a flight from Vancouver to Toronto.
I received a letter from the Saskatoon Airport Authority outlining its concerns in relation to the proposed tax implementation. It states:
We are entirely self-financing and all earnings of the Authority are reinvested in airport operations and development of the infrastructure for the benefit of stakeholders including the Community of Saskatoon and the aviation industry in general.
The events of September 11, 2001 have changed the world and produced unprecedented hardship. The financial crisis facing the civil aviation industry is particularly intense with costs skyrocketing and revenues plummeting at a time when economic events before September 11 threatened the financial stability of the industry.
Saskatoon is particularly concerned about the negative effect the proposed tax will have on our operations. We are reliant on short haul flights. The additional charge levied by the Government of Canada will have a negative impact on our airport. We believe that many potential passengers may choose to utilize other modes of transportation.
This letter goes on to outline specific concerns of the Saskatoon Airport Authority in relation to this new tax. They include the accountability for the collection of the funds, the unfair application of the user pay concept, the discriminatory aspect on short haul flights and the lack of a clear link between the fee and the level of security provided.
The government must re-examine the proposed security tax on air travellers. Canadians demand and deserve a fair and equitable source of funding for the added security measures needed.