Mr. Speaker, I have requested an emergency debate because the government has announced a fundamental change to some of Canada's most important public infrastructure. Parliament needs to debate it now before decisions are locked in.
Last week, the Prime Minister and his cabinet announced that the operations and long-term value of four of Canada's largest airports would be open to private investment, potentially including foreign investors. Let us be very clear about what we are talking about. This is not a private company operating a coffee shop or a clothing store inside an airport. This is about opening the major operations and long-term value of four of Canada's largest airports, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal, to private investors, potentially including U.S. or other foreign investors, for decades to come.
The selling off of these operations has serious security and sovereignty implications and could compromise the safety of Canadians in travel. These airports are currently operated by not-for-profit airport authorities. They serve millions of Canadians and support hundreds of thousands of Canadian workers.
Make no mistake about it, private business wants a piece of our airports to make money. The Canadian Labour Congress put it plainly: “Private investors don’t put billions into airports unless they expect to make billions back.” There are no magic profits. That money has to come from somewhere, and that is going to mean higher fees and higher costs for Canadians, Canadian workers losing their jobs, reduced services, and fewer safety precautions.
The result is that Canadians will pay more for less safe and worse airport experiences. Canadian workers will lose their jobs while private investors extract profits from infrastructure that Canadians built and rely upon. These airports already generate enormous public value. Airport rents alone return roughly $525 million a year to the federal government. That is why this is urgent.
I am asking the Speaker to consider this urgent request. The government has announced the plan. The process is moving forward. Parliament has a narrow window to examine the consequences before long-term consequences are enacted.