Transport committee  I will give you an example. Canada is the only country that charges airport rent to its main airports. For Montreal, for instance, something like $50 million a year is going back to the federal government without any service in return or without that money being reinvested in industry.

Transport committee  May I answer?

Transport committee  Perhaps, if I may, I would say that the concentration of international long-haul flights in key hubs has always been there. It was like that before the pandemic. In fact, even in hubs like Toronto Pearson, we have fewer departures than we did before the pandemic, so no, this is not the factor that is creating all the delay we have now.

Transport committee  Yes.

Transport committee  It's difficult for me to comment on the average price. The price always depends on the market. It depends on offer and on demand. It also depends on the number of seats available on the aircraft and at what time they are booked. I'd be pleased to follow up with your office and discuss if there are particular issues regarding your riding.

Transport committee  I would say that air transport is a very competitive market in Canada. Prices in the different markets depend on different realities. As Ms. Acton‑Gervais said, it's important to understand that the industry is emerging from a very difficult period. We must therefore take into consideration the issue of the resumption of demand.

Transport committee  I can't respond to comments made at a meeting held several years ago and that I didn't attend. I can't comment on that, but I could check with my colleagues. As I said, each price in the different markets depends on the different realities of each market.

Transport committee  In terms of regional transportation, what's important to know when you talk about competitiveness and the costs imposed on the industry is that the volumes are smaller in regional markets, so the impact of higher costs is felt more. As part of its study on how to reduce costs to the industry, the committee should look at all the costs in the ecosystem, whether it is the rents that the government charges airports, the taxes that airports have to pay to municipalities that have no equivalent in the United States, or the impact of the pandemic on navigation fees.

Transport committee  We have always been in favour of implementing measures that are based on science and data to enable the return and recovery of air transport. Obviously, as my colleague mentioned, another important aspect is that there should be consistency between the measures applicable to air transport and those applicable to other sectors.

Official Languages committee  We measure demand for new flight routes. It's an exercise for airline companies. That's a very good question, because it's dynamic. Air Canada has much more than a single office in one region of Canada. Owing to the nature of its activities, its presence is global. Every time we offer a new route, we measure demand.

Official Languages committee  That's a very good question. We will be preparing a report on our efforts. We will look at the results for recruitment and training. We will consult our employees as we establish the next objectives. Air Canada is going through a recovery period, which provides opportunities to review how we do things.

Official Languages committee  The manner in which significant demand for bilingual services is to be calculated is set out in one of the government's regulations. We can, of course, send the reference to the committee.

Official Languages committee  In the bill that was introduced, the government announced that it intended to make other airline companies subject to the requirement to serve Canadians in French, but we believe that the flight routes subject to this obligation would be the same as those specified in the regulations.

Official Languages committee  I can answer that question. The committee began its work, even during the pandemic. It meets on a quarterly basis. One of its objectives is to establish centralized communications among the various sectors to remind everyone about the importance of our official languages obligations and procedures.

Official Languages committee  I'd like to add something. We were, of course, hit hard by the pandemic, but we nevertheless carried between 13 million and 14 million passengers…