Transport committee  Good afternoon, and thank you very much for having me today. It's great to have these discussions. Your question was whether our company believes the government is following science.

Transport committee  There's been a big debate about this. I think that's why, for many months, we've encouraged the government to table the public health advice it received from Dr. Tam and others, because our greatest lament during COVID is the unfortunate politicization of travel. We don't blame a

Transport committee  It is the position of WestJet. I can confirm that. As it relates to operational matters, which is what we're talking about today—the red tape, backlogs, and what's happening at our airports across the country—the CBSA and CATSA and the minister have all said that labour shortages

Transport committee  We've been public about this. Over 300 employees lost their jobs because of the mandate.

Transport committee  That's correct.

Transport committee  None that we are aware of, but I believe Dr. Tam has been very public about transmissibility rates on aircraft. That's one of the major issues we have, Mr. Dowdall. Suzanne mentioned in her opening remarks the discrepancy between how an air traveller is treated and how every othe

Transport committee  I think we can have lots of conversations about competitiveness. I think everyone, from the minister to every parliamentarian from every party, agrees that the challenge before us is that we need to have a more seamless recovery. People will be discouraged from booking if they th

Transport committee  I have a few comments. Allow me to respond in my own language. On regional travel, we've signed many interline agreements and co-chair agreements and have been innovative. We didn't need the government to encourage us in this direction. There was a market that we wanted to serv

Transport committee  Mr. Rogers said it; he does not have railways. We need to look at intermodal equity. If you're looking at recommendations on how regional travel and transportation can come to life and be more cost competitive, I would say take a very close look at how the federal government tr

Transport committee  Do I? No. I don't want to comment on what is or is not motivating the government. I think everyone wants a safe recovery. We're all partners in public health. The Prime Minister has singled out airlines for their work in curbing the spread of COVID, so I don't think there's any d

Transport committee  Yes.

Transport committee  The data we've been presented by the government is the aggregate public data about the general COVID situation that we're in, the state of the pandemic, and the number of cases and hospitalizations. The Public Health Agency, Mr. Jeneroux, throughout the pandemic, has had the pe

Transport committee  We have a great relationship with the government. There are many discussions about science and metrics. Primarily, it has been what is in the public domain for everyone to see and understand. In that respect, there has been general aggregate information available.

Transport committee  That is a good question. I believe some of this came up at committee the other day, because someone asked the minister about standards of care. That's one of the issues that's coming to light here, with these delays. Just to give you an example, Mr. Jeneroux, there are some even

Transport committee  With respect to federal support during the pandemic, our company did not negotiate a support package with the federal government. I believe we were the only airline that did not do so. We did not participate in that support that was under discussion. We did use the Canada emergen