Transport committee  I'm not sure if we had the same group appear before the panel, but we certainly heard similar representations from other interested parties who are looking at starting ultra-low-cost carrier services in Canada.

Transport committee  Again, I'm not sure if we heard from the same group, because it's almost like an echo. We certainly heard from a number of these interested proponents of ultra-low-cost carriers that there was a limited market and appetite in Canada to fund these types of operations, but that there were in fact examples around the world of international investors, non-Canadian investors, who would put up the capital for this type of operation.

Transport committee  They are strictly additional expenses.

Transport committee  The figures we used in the report come from the industries that already work in the north, are already working on projects there, and are thinking about improving resource development in the Far North. In studying this file, we made comparisons, such as with the Plan Nord in Quebec, which is currently being implemented in that province.

Transport committee  Yes, it is an optimistic forecast, especially regarding the Far North. What we have is limited by current activities. However, as a northern country, we have to think about investing in a major way in developing the natural resources of the Far North.

Transport committee  Without these investments, the bee will always be limited.

Transport committee  There are certainly lists of projects, especially within the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency. We mentioned some projects in our report. They had been chosen by the governments of the northern territories, as well as by the communities. I think that the list of projects we selected is in general the same as that of the federal government.

Transport committee  If you don't mind, I will reply in English.

Transport committee  On the issue of privatization of airports, you asked which intervenors supported privatization. It wasn't so much intervenors who came in with a specific model they had in mind. In our consultation with experts and academics looking at models, as you've pointed out, in the United States and Australia and elsewhere where the current model exists, one thing that became extremely clear, and somewhat ironic, was that some of the largest investors in airports outside of Canada are in fact Canadian pension funds.

Transport committee  It's an excellent question, and it's one that we encountered through our work. The one thing that we have to identify as a baseline, though, is that Canada, despite a lot of the challenges we face, benefits from generally high customer service in the airline business. We have not seen the level of horror stories that you've seen south of the border, for example, with some of the most egregious examples of customer service snafus or customer service issues.

Transport committee  As a panel, we were—I think the best word would be—gobsmacked, when we were told by aviation stakeholders that this was their number one pressing issue. When we met with airports, airlines, user groups, consumers groups, the thing that shocked us—and this is a sector that can barely agree on anything—was that they came out with a near unanimous consensus that this was becoming a bottleneck to their activities.

Transport committee  The quickest fix is money, but I don't think that the monetary solution is actually going to result in any lasting fix. That's the problem. The way the current system works, any time you have an increase in passenger traffic, more money is required. I would say that the quickest fix would be a better implementation of the trusted traveller model that CBSA uses in its screening of inbound travellers to Canada, and using that database, that information, and that technology to differentiate the screening of trusted travellers through pre-boarding security at the airports.

Transport committee  Yes, runways and that sort of thing.

Transport committee  Yes.

Transport committee  We did not study the prices in detail. Aside from the price issue, Canada has another challenge, its user-pay system. In the United States the system is squarely subsidized in all respects. So it is difficult to make comparisons. Travelling between Vancouver and northern Yukon or the Northwest Territories is indeed more costly than travelling between Seattle and Alaska.