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The Canadian Airports Council (CAC) has marked the return to business of the nation’s legislature with a call for the elimination of airport rent, more resources for border services, and the negotiation of more liberalized bilateral air service agreements as three top priorities for 2007. The CAC is also pressing for an increase in funding for the Airports Capital Assistance Program and a change in regulations to allow for duty-free stores in airport arrivals areas. Canada stands out among western nations in charging airports rent, CAC says. The organization says that Canadian airports stand to spend nearly Cdn$290 million (US$245 million) in rent tax, something for which CAC says the airports receive nothing in return. “It serves as a yoke on the ability of an airport, and the community it serves, to further invest and expand on trade opportunities,” CAC stated. Meanwhile the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is being stretched to the limit, and this is undercutting tourism and trade. In some cases airport wait lines have become much longer, while smaller communities have a hard time even securing the customs services they need in order to develop much needed international air links, CAC says. “For Canada’s airports, 2006 was a year in which the federal government made some very positive and refreshing commitments to improve the competitiveness of Canada in the world,” said Jim Facette, CAC president and CEO. “In 2007, it is time to act on these commitments, negotiate new liberalized air agreements, resolve the CBSA resource strain that threatens the ability of communities to make use of these agreements, and once and for all eliminate the competitive disadvantage of rent.” |
