Good morning, honourable members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today on this important topic.

My name is Dave White, and I am the CEO of Keewatin Air LP.

Keewatin Air is one of the most comprehensive aeromedical organizations in Canada, providing extensive 24-hour emergency air ambulance services, including the delivery of industry-leading health and emergency services to Canada’s Arctic region.

Our company is a member of the Exchange Income Corporation family of air operators, a group of 10 Canadian-owned air operators providing air ambulance, flight training, scheduled passenger, charter, rotary wing and comprehensive aerospace services. Collectively, we work from coast to coast to coast as essential service providers in some of Canada’s most remote communities and, by extension, some of Canada’s most challenging aviation environments.

At EIC, we know we are vital to the communities we serve, and we always take our responsibility seriously in that respect. Throughout our history, we have established a track record of proactively doing business as a responsible and conscientious community partner.

Keewatin Air operates multiple Beechcraft King Air 200/B200s dedicated on a 24-7-365 basis to air ambulance operations that are complemented by our Pilatus PC-12 and Cessna Citation 560. Together, these aircraft transport over 3,000 patients annually, covering 2.3 million medevac miles in Canada’s most challenging operating environments.

Keewatin Air maintains bases of operation in Winnipeg, Churchill and Thompson, Manitoba; Igloolik, Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay, Nunavut; and Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. Like many other EIC operators, Keewatin Air has developed essential services to northern and remote communities for over 50 years and employs over 250 Canadians. Keewatin Air's past, present and future as an air operator in Canada are deeply tied to our northern heritage.

That said, Keewatin Air is a contracted medical transportation provider and not a provider of scheduled airline passenger services. As such, our ability as a company to provide insight to this committee on how air travel in northern, rural and remote communities is impacted by the Competition Act is limited. We can speak only to our own experience, and I can volunteer some insights in that respect as to factors faced by all air operators that may limit the amount of competition the northern communities into which we operate can support.

First, the investments and costs associated with the establishment and maintenance of any aviation operation in northern Canada far exceed costs that would be incurred in the south. Infrastructure building and maintenance costs are higher. The construction season is short. Labour costs are elevated. It is difficult to attract and retain qualified staff, and maintenance and supply chains for spare parts are both more complicated and more expensive. The operation itself is challenging and prone to weather disruptions, which again drive costs up.

That series of conditions isn’t unique to aviation in the north. It’s broadly understood across industries that costs associated with doing business in Canada’s northern, rural and remote communities are going to be elevated no matter what industry you’re in.

The second factor driving costs for northern aviation operations is the application of the uniquely Canadian user-pay principle to the maintenance and development of aviation infrastructure. Broadly speaking, user-pay means exactly that: that the end-user or passenger pays not just for the cost of his or her transportation—or medical transportation or cargo shipment—but rather for the journey plus the imposed costs associated with the maintenance and support of every part of the aviation supply chain that supports their journey. These government-related fees can include air traffic fees, terminal charges, airport improvement fees and security fees. The list is endless.

In southern markets, these costs can be distributed across a large travelling population. In the north, with smaller communities separated by greater distances, these costs are borne disproportionately by end-users, making travel more expensive, likely decreasing demand and discouraging competition.

In conclusion, while Keewatin Air’s primary focus remains on providing critical medical transport services, the challenges we face in operating in the north mirror those faced by all aviation services in these regions.

The elevated costs of operation combined with the principles of user-pay create a landscape in which competition is difficult to sustain, which ultimately impacts the affordability and accessibility of air travel for northern, rural and remote communities.

Thank you for your time and attention. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.