Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank the committee for this opportunity to discuss the current situation in my neck of the woods and that of the Mont-Joli regional airport.

Mont-Joli regional airport is a former military airport from the Second World War, when it was the largest airport in eastern Canada. I would note that Newfoundland and Labrador were not part of Canada at the time. It housed the No. 9 Bombing and Gunnery School, where many thousands of Canadian, Australian and English soldiers were trained. Mont-Joli became a civilian airport in the years from 1960 to 1970 and was retroceded to four regional county municipalities. I am the chairman of the board and, in my spare time, prefect and mayor of one of the towns in my region.

Mont-Joli regional airport has not been air-linked to Montreal or Quebec City by any commercial carrier since December 4, 2023. The reason given for that is that there is insufficient demand and that the link is therefore unprofitable. Some blame the situation on inconvenient schedules, unreliable service and high ticket prices. It's also suggested that teleworking has obviated the need for business travel. However, very few airports have returned to the passenger volumes they had before the pandemic.

Ours is not a unique situation. Analysis of recent decades shows that aviation has been rocked by several crises. Recessions, the changes in the economic direction by certain governments and, of course, the major impact of September 11, 2001 have had an effect on our regions. They have been particularly hard hit and, in many instances, are forced to start over from scratch. The response to every crisis is the same: identify temporary solutions, then support them with short-term funding and provide financial incentives. As laudable as those efforts may be, they are never enough to ensure the survival of regional air links.

On their own, our communities don't have the financial resources to support these long-term measures. It takes two to four years for a new air route to turn a profit. Since carriers are private businesses, they can't absorb these costs alone, particularly since operating costs to serve remote regions such as ours in winter are particularly high. As not-for-profit organizations, municipal airports mainly rely on revenue generated by landing fees and other charges that are billed to air carriers.

In addition, most of us also have to rely on subsidies to keep our infrastructure up to standard. However, current subsidy programs remain limited. Take the airports capital assistance program, or ACAP, for example. Funding available under that program has not increased for many years, a fact that further complicates efforts to manage growing needs in a context of rampant inflation.

We think the government should draw on the practices of our southern neighbours in its efforts to improve funding for our regional airports. It should also acknowledge that air transportation is an essential service in developing our regions if we want to attract investors, help our skilled labour force and welcome tourists, physicians and other professionals. Businesses in our regions should be able to travel to the major centres so they can develop their markets, attract investors and deploy their teams.

Sustainable regional conductivity support programs must absolutely be put in place. Maintaining financial stability will become a major asset in developing the regions. Investments would be adjusted in accordance with the economic situation; in other words, less funding would be granted when the situation is good and more when it isn't.

Mont-Joli regional airport recently commissioned a study on population movements during the period from January 1 to December 31, 2023. Study findings showed that, in the four regional county municipalities served by the airport, 46,000 out of a labour force of 63,000 persons had travelled to Montreal Island by car.

A second study revealed that 10,383 and 5,053 persons travelled respectively to Montreal and Quebec City airports by car. That means that more than 15,000 people drove their cars to those airports. These numbers are consistent with 2019 data showing that more than 53,000 passengers boarded commercial flights at Mont-Joli airport.

What do these passengers have to do in 2024? They have to drive their cars to Montreal or Quebec City. We're talking about 46,000 persons in the Bas‑Saint‑Laurent region who drove to, and thus increased traffic on, Montreal Island. Then there are the people from other regions, such as Abitibi, Saguenay—Lac‑Saint‑Jean and Côte‑Nord. This is one of the reasons why the major airports must expand their parking facilities.

If I had wanted to speak to you in person today, I would have had to make a more than 20-hour round trip, but I would have attended the meeting in person if service had been available. Many businesses also seem willing to take their employees off the roads and provide them with more efficient travel arrangements. We were surprised to learn this week that Transport Canada inspectors had to travel by car for cost reasons.

Lastly, I would like to say that this problem is having a major impact on services provided to the population of eastern Quebec. It has an impact on education because professors at the Université du Québec à Rimouski are refusing to teach courses in the regions; on research because eminent researchers are refusing to co‑operate in locating research projects in our regions; on health because medical specialists are refusing to operate here; and on dentists, who are refusing to provide services in the region. All this forces people to drive, in some instances, five hours to obtain a service, to have a dentist place a filling, for example. It also has an economic impact because, for example, investors have terminated certain projects upon realizing they had to drive six hours to get to our region.

We were initially just talking about a few flights, but we now realize this issue is having a major impact on our communities.

Thank you very much.