TRAN Committee Report

Supplementary Opinion of the Bloc Québécois

on the Out of the Crisis report:

a study of the impact of COVID-19

in the air transport sector

June 10, 2021

Introduction

First of all, the Bloc Québécois salutes the members of the Committee as well as the staff of the Library of Parliament for the professionalism they have shown and the work they have accomplished throughout this study and thanks all the witnesses and citizens who fueled the debate on what needs to be done to enable the air transport sector to emerge from the crisis.

However, it is the opinion of the Bloc Québécois that this report has omitted certain crucial elements which would have made it possible to clearly define what must be done to put in place a healthy environment for consumers and workers in the air transport sector at the end of this long troubled period.

The next few lines will serve to outline what we believe should have appeared in this report in addition to what is already there. First, a request for a firm commitment from the federal government to work with the government of Quebec and its municipalities to set up an air transport service for the regions of Quebec. Second, we should see a clear desire to strengthen protections against the anti-competitive actions of some players in the industry. And ultimately a real consideration for the issue of the sale of Air Transat.

Work with Quebec, a concept absent from consideration

It is deplorable to note that the report completely omits the need to work in collaboration with Quebec, particularly in ​​air transport in the regions. While Quebecers living in the regions are the ones who know best what they need most in terms of air transport, this report once again vividly demonstrates the propensity of federalist parties to “Ottawa knows best”.   

The Quebec government and municipalities formed a task force on the revival of regional air services in Quebec to study the problems caused by the abandonment of Air Canada's regional services and provide recommendations. However, the federal government seems to completely ignore these actions taken by the people directly affected by the current crisis and prefers to act, or not to act in many cases, unilaterally and solely on the basis of what he considers good or not.

The least thing would have been to recommend that the government work in collaboration with the Government of Quebec and the municipalities to put in place solutions that really meet the needs of the community. Unfortunately, no consideration has been given to this issue.

Strengthen the fight against anti-competitive actions, an emergency for the regions of Quebec

During the committee’s studies, many witnesses from Quebec highlighted Air Canada’s anti-competitive practices in the regions. Although the report mentions these concerns, particularly from Mr. Yani Gagnon (Pascan), and Mr. Serge Larivière (TREQ¹), no recommendation directly addresses this issue.  

Admittedly, the committee expressed the wish that the government create a competitive environment in the air transport sector, but let us recall that before the pandemic, the Government of Canada had let Air Canada make rain or shine in the regions of Quebec and this for several years. To name only one of anti-competitive practices of Air Canada, when a competitor enters the market, Air Canada “is dumping” until said competitor is forced to leave the market. Once the result achieved, Air Canada is quick to bring its prices to a prohibitive level for many citizens in the regions.

As this situation continued for several decades ², it would have been important for the committee to adopt a clear recommendation to ban such practices. It is to the federal government to intervene to put an end to this situation. The action could be articulated around several measures such as strengthening the powers of the Commissioner of Competition so that he can intervene quickly when this kind of situation arises or even foresee serious consequences for carriers doing so.

In short, it seems obvious to us that the committee erred in failing to include recommendations on this subject in its report. Once again, this is a situation where the reality of Quebec is ignored by Ottawa.

Lack of interest from federalist parties in the sale of Air Transat

The wording of the study motion reads as follows: “That, pursuant to order 108 (2), the Committee undertake a comprehensive study of the effects of Covid-19 on the airline industry; that at least eight meetings be scheduled for this study; that the impact of Air Transat’s sale on the sector be the first point examined in the context of this study.”    

Unfortunately, this last portion of the motion never materialized, as the federalist parties present at the committee preferred to evade the issue as much as possible. On each occasion that the subject was raised during the various meetings of the committee, we were given a host of excuses to avoid getting to the bottom of things, for not discussing the subject or to not handing over relevant documents to the committee. However, the sale of this Quebec flagship represented a key issue in Quebec. So, it does not make sense, in our opinion, that the committee did not take this seriously into consideration.

As part of this transaction, thousands of jobs, a major head office and even competition in the market were at stake. Unfortunately, the Liberals and Conservatives have made every effort to ensure that the subject is never studied, preferring to protect the Minister of Transport so that he can make his own decision, without us having been able to get hold of all the information he had in his possession.

In our democracy, the role of the opposition is to hold the government to account for its decisions. This role is based on a principle of transparency which is crucial for public confidence in our institutions. By refusing to carefully consider the issue as part of the study, the committee has failed in one of its main objectives: to provide a space for accountability on the part of the government on the issues entrusted to it.

Faced with this observation, we can only be critical of the functioning of the Government of Canada where the Liberal and Conservative parties are only exchanging power without ever taking into consideration what matters to Quebec. This ongoing situation since the beginning of the confederation is only one more reason for Quebec to leave Canada in order to be able to look after its own interests without having to depend on a political system that only exists to perpetuate itself. The Air Transat sale case in this study is just one more example of this situation.

Conclusion

Finally, this report will have neglected three important elements in the context of this study, thus demonstrating Canada’s lack of consideration towards Quebec for many issues which are dear to it. Quebec’s interests in these matters would have been better served by an independent Quebec that would not have ignored these important issues.

However, we owe it to ourselves to highlight the other elements of the report which provide recommendations that we believe to be sound, particularly regarding the reimbursement of airline tickets and aid to the air and aerospace sector. Consequently, we now wish to see the government act to enable air transport to recover from this crisis and respond favourably to the elements of this report and of this supplementary opinion.

Recommendations of the Bloc Québécois

That the Government of Canada works in collaboration with the Government of Quebec to establish priorities for solid regional air transport containing a significant amount of competition.

That the Government of Canada intervenes to prevent Air Canada and other large carriers from engaging in practices that undermine regional air competition.