The current language scandal at Air Canada is just one facet of what is not working in the industry. There has long been a major problem in Quebec in terms of mobility on our territory: our regional aviation looks like a poor child compared to that of all our neighbors, Air Canada having contributed again recently by abandoning several regional links.
The absurd reality still today is that it often costs less to fly to Europe than to travel between two Quebec cities, to the detriment of the territory’s economic development and better social cohesion. On comparable distances, the price of tickets in Quebec is a multiple of what it is in Ontario. Unsurprisingly, we therefore see in Quebec a proportional smaller volume of regional travelers (millions of fewer annual passengers, according to a recent study by IREC).
It is absolutely not because Quebeckers are more afraid of the plane than Ontarians: we represent exactly our share of the Canadian population on international flights, but a fraction of it on regional flights. It is basically simply because Quebeckers know how to count.
Faced with this state of affairs, there are two main solutions. First, to support demand by subsidizing travelers so that the real price of the ticket is lower (however allowing existing carriers to continue to charge obscenely high prices) or to restructure the offer so that the prices are reasonable, as everywhere else. . I dare to hope that the long-awaited plan of the Minister of Transport of Quebec will not take the path of subsidies with the objective “of not harming the existing carriers” (which ask the high price). The other way, that of settling once and for all the problem of excessively high prices, is much more promising. We must get out of a quasi-monopolistic model which is repeating itself and which has failed for decades.
A cooperative
There is a project called TREQ (treq.ca), a regional air transport cooperative of which nearly 15 Quebecers are already members without the slightest advertising campaign, whose elected officials and regional industries support the arrival and whose financial partners will include Canada Economic Development (CED), two major institutions Quebec financial institutions as well as private investors who all believe in this project and its positive economic and social spinoffs.
And the environment? TREQ will proudly be the first carbon neutral airline in the country. In addition, the number of cars that its regional flights will remove from the roads will have the effect of reducing overall GHG emissions in Quebec. Sustainable development at its best and a formidable tool for post-pandemic recovery and regional economic development. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the Government of Canada (DEC) had the vision to support TREQ while the Government of Quebec would continue to be the only provincial government to subsidize Air Canada through an airfare reduction program that covers 30% to 60% of the cost of the ticket? It is Michael Rousseau who would be very happy about that : public funds to help travelers pay for overpriced tickets, rather than solving the basic problem: the price of the ticket itself!
It is high time that we resolve this anomaly and that TREQ take off to break the virtual monopoly on our regional air transport, with a carrier that will also belong to the community. Does that mean anything to you, collective enterprises? Desjardins in finance, Sollio (Coop fédérée) in agrifood, Beneva (SSQ / La Capitale) in insurance, the Angus Development Corporation in real estate, all companies that manage hundreds of millions, even billions. Collective enterprises represent nearly 50 billion in the GDP of Quebec and survive twice as much as companies inc., Statistics too little known to many elected officials who still think that, if it is collective, it is not ” real business “. A little vision, please!
The TREQ Cooperative must see the light of day. It constitutes a real social project which will bring de facto the regions by facilitating travel within the territory, which will develop our economy and contribute to the reduction of GHG emissions in Quebec. And believe me, on TREQ flights, you can be well served in French.
Masters at home, as the other would say. Even in the sky.