Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There's Old Crow and Dawson City. To get the jet to land in Old Crow we had to get some turn buttons put onto the runway. The Yukon government came through on that. So there were some upgrades. They're 5,000-foot strips. They have the capability of having jets or other turbo props.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The Yukon government is well aware of these issues, and so is our member of Parliament and other members. It's a changing rule. It's not as much Canadian border security on this issue as it is Homeland Security. Since 9/11, especially, we've had to equip our aircraft, Hawker Siddeleys--there are no others in the world--with certain barriers between the cockpit and the aircraft.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There are a couple of things that are coming up that could. Transport Canada, after the Air France aircraft incident in Toronto, is talking about having these sort of run-off sections on the ends of runways for safety. We don't have that ability in Old Crow. We have the river at both ends.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Funding of this type definitely would be of great use to our airline given that we provide both a turboprop service and the jet service to our communities. I would say, though, that one way to lower fares is to better manage capacity. We have attempted to do that as much as possible.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm sure that Mr. Bevington has priorities other than the NWT. In the Yukon there are only two airstrips on our scheduled service that are gravel. We're talking about the upgrade of two airstrips, which would allow us to upgrade our fleet significantly. We know that when it comes to crew changes and other things like that we would have to utilize some of our other aircraft.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Federal government investment, whether it is investment that improves museums or tourism, is all good for Air North. With respect to investments in industry, in mining and oil and gas, our company does crew changes for some of the mining companies. The more we can get some of these developments, the more ability we have to increase the number of communities we can provide air service to.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The economy has been a bit down over the last year. We saw close to 100,000 passenger segments in 2007 drop to around 97,000 passenger segments in 2008. Our cargo is an integral part of our airline. We have two elements to our airline: one is the jet service; the other is turboprop service to the northern communities.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Air Canada isn't actually a competitor to us on the northern schedules. They fly these smaller aircraft that really have no cargo capacity. They've actually helped us secure the market for cargo. Our Hawker Siddeley 748s are very effective turboprops, and we use those to provide cargo to Vancouver Island and many other areas.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Only a comment, especially with regard to our neighbours in Alaska. With regard to Air North, over the last seven years we've had to end our flights into Juneau. It used to be year-round—and it's not a moneymaker—in through Fairbanks, Alaska, and we provide a gateway to the Yukon through Fairbanks.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. Our fare structure, on the lowest end it's at $195, but we also have fuel surcharges and other Nav Canada fees and so on. What we also do on the upper side is we never raise our fares as high as, say, some of the other carriers. If you walk in and purchase a ticket, you may pay $1,000 for a one-way ticket.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for your question. I'm going to wear a slightly different hat here. In our community of Old Crow, of course, there's the Ivvavik National Park. But we also have Vuntut National Park, which was established as part of our land claim agreement. It's a wilderness park. It's never going to, at least in the next decade or two, see high visitation rates, but one of the key aspects of that park is that it is one part of the story of the Vuntut Gwitchin people in Old Crow.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, so long as you pay our fuel surcharge on our aircraft. Actually, yes, all members can have a cap. I understand you're flying out tomorrow to Yellowknife. I'll make sure there's a cap for everyone so that no one is treated unfairly. I would like to point out one thing on the fuel, if I can, to one of your comments.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  My final point is that northern gateway routes make a relatively small contribution to either one of the mainline carriers, but these routes represent a huge loss to a northern carrier. I would just like to end on that note. Whitehorse is the hub of Air North, with almost 200 employees, with $10 million to $15 million of salaries that flow into the Yukon labour market, with spinoffs being a multiple of that.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairperson and all the honourable members. I appreciate the opportunity to be here this afternoon. Just quickly, Air North is owned by the Vuntut Development Corporation—which has approximately 800 beneficiaries based in Old Crow, Yukon—Mr. Joe Sparling, who's the president, and also 600 other Yukoners who have bought shares through small business investment tax programs.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Without getting into too much detail, 16,000 square miles of land is geared to be settlement land. Of that, 10,000 square miles includes subsurface rights. The other 6,000 square miles is simply on the surface rights. In the end, if all first nations settled--there are still three outstanding claims--approximately 9% or so of Yukon land would be considered settlement land.