Finance committee  As I mentioned before, it's a figure that's out there, that we really can't get our hands around, because at this moment in time the demands of small airports vary so significantly. We think we can work with the federal government to come up with a number to sustain airports.

Finance committee  No, because at the time, it went to the airlines and in a sense came back to the airport. It was either that the airlines pay or the airport pays. They weren't initially part of the negotiations, so it was laid on their laps, and either they paid $200,000 or Delta—

Finance committee  At the time of transfer, individual airports—[Technical difficulty--Editor]—and when we took over their airport, there was an agreement that every six years—[Technical difficulty--Editor]— For the most part, we didn't really fully appreciate how much across Canada—[Technical diff

Finance committee  What we're really saying is that if we were allowed to have that money that would otherwise stay with the federal government, we could reinvest it back into airport itself to better serve—

Finance committee  That might be a possibility. That could be possible if we had that extra revenue coming in or if we didn't have the expense of—[Technical difficulty--Editor]— It's a possibility, absolutely, because it all boils down to the consumer. It all flows down to the consumer.

Finance committee  If I may, because it's something that—[Technical difficulty--Editor]—the response varies from airport to airport. There are some who believe that if the rents were eliminated—[Technical difficulty--Editor]—to the Government of Canada, while there are others who see a tremendous b

Finance committee  I'm certainly glad you asked the question. Thank you very much. It's the number one issue for Atlantic Canada airports and, in particular, for small airports. As an example, in Moncton we received a call last year that Air Canada Vacations—we had a sun destination airline—call

Finance committee  I can't speak specifically for that particular one, but any investment in airports is welcomed by the Atlantic Canada Airports Association. The difficulty we have is, going back to an earlier question, today if we were to ask airports what they need in addition to what they've re

Finance committee  I believe the number I've heard that's currently in the ACAP is $35 million. That is only accessible by small non-NAS airports, with less than 200,000 passengers. We know it has been underfunded for years and airports have extreme difficulty in accessing it, and when they do, it'

Finance committee  The federal government is determining exactly what it is that each airport individually requires so that we can put together something across the country.

Finance committee  The smallest one would be Charlo.

Finance committee  We've lost two for sure: Yarmouth and St. Leonard. Charlo is in danger of being lost. In fact, they're working on an amalgamation with the city of Bathurst. There are a number of small NAS airports--less than 200,000 passengers--that are suffering in terms of capital requirements

Finance committee  No.

Finance committee  They have put very little back into the system since privatization or transfer has taken place. We started off with $1.5 billion of assets being transferred to local authorities. To date, they've collected over $2 billion in rent, with very little of that going back into the infr