Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for the invitation to appear today and to discuss the current study. Air travel in northern, rural and remote communities is a topic of great importance for the leaders of Canada's airports and the communities that we serve.

Before I begin, I acknowledge that I'm joining you today from Toronto Pearson, on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation people, and I pay respect to elders past and present.

My name is Monette Pasher. I'm the president of Canada's airports council. For those of you who may not know, our organization was formed in 1992, as the devolution of airports from the federal government to local control was beginning. The CAC serves as an industry conduit for airports across the country to collaborate on best practices and to work together on a wide range of significant files, including innovation, passenger facilitation, sustainability, supply chains and regulations to capitalize on the growth of air travel in our country. CAC represents more than 100 airports, including all of the national airports system airports and all that serve passenger traffic in every province and territory.

Canada is a vast and diverse nation blessed with breathtaking landscapes and a rich cultural heritage from coast to coast to coast, yet nestled within this expansive terrain are communities that often find themselves geographically isolated, lacking the essential infrastructure necessary for sustainable development. It is in these communities that the role of aviation is paramount.

Regardless of where Canadians live, there is an essential need for affordable and reliable air service. For Canadians in rural and remote communities, air service is not a luxury but an essential part of their everyday lives. Take, as an example, Canadians who live in Nunavut, where there are more than 25 communities that are fly-in and fly-out. They're only accessible by air. They depend on aviation for medical service, for fresh food on their shelves and for other critical supplies. However, the reality remains that many of our rural and remote communities continue to face barriers to air travel, ranging from limited flight options to prohibitive costs.

As stewards of the aviation industry, it is incumbent upon us to address these challenges head-on and to work collaboratively together with government, stakeholders and local communities to enhance air travel. Investing in airport infrastructure, supporting regional carriers for essential service and implementing targeted incentives are just a few examples of the measures that can be taken to foster competition and expand air travel opportunities in underserved areas.

All airports in the territories rely on funding from the airport capital assistance program—which we call ACAP—and also on territorial government funding. The ACAP fund was created in 1995, and it's only funded at $38 million annually, so that's $38 million to support nearly 200 small airports across the country.

To put that into context, the cost to pave just one runway is approximately $10 million at a small airport. There's extensive need across the country, especially in the north and in rural and remote areas, for safety-related infrastructure. We have been calling for this fund to be increased to $95 million annually to support the actual level of need across the country, and we were pleased to see it at that level throughout the pandemic.

Aviation in Canada is a network, and optimizing air travel includes removing barriers. One barrier I see is the need to protect our airspace from development. Another is that airports should not be a profit centre for government. This was a policy decision made when the airports were divested back in the early nineties, but it continues today. Are other modes of travel a direct profit centre for government—rail, ferries and roads? For most Canadians air is how they choose to travel, with more than 150 million trips annually, but for some in remote communities, it is the only mode of travel, so when it comes to public policy, air travel should be viewed through a lens of the essential role it plays in our economy. To put this in context with just one example, there are 9,000 people from Yukon who travel to Vancouver each year for medical appointments, and Yukon's total population is fewer than 50,000 people.

CAC is ready to work with the members of this committee to strengthen the journey for all passengers, including through a commitment to northern and remote communities. Let us recognize the transformative power of aviation in bridging distances, connecting people and fostering prosperity.

I look forward to the discussion.