4 November 2006 File: 2.0(kp06089) The Honourable Lawrence
Cannon, PC MP Dear Minister Cannon: I am writing to bring to your attention, on behalf of 18,000 aircraft owners and pilots, the requirement for a General Aviation Policy for Canada. I noted in your speaking notes from the Toronto Transportation Summit on 22 March 2006 that you were pleased with the multi-faceted portfolio that the Prime Minister handed to you. You said “Because I feel the three — transportation, infrastructure and communities — really are a point of convergence for some of the most important issues facing Canada today, and are, in fact, reflected in my title as a further signal of the importance the government accords this area of public policy. We will work with the provinces in the interests of communities, as our government is also determined to apply a new era of open federalism.” I share your view that transportation, infrastructure and communities are closely linked, especially when it involves aviation. In particular, smaller airports are key economic generators for communities throughout Canada. They provide services that are vital to the community in ways that no other form of transportation can provide. For example, medevacs and supply links for remote communities, just-in-time parts deliveries and executive travel between branch plants are vital services that these airports provide. Flight training for future commercial pilots occurs at many smaller airports and mechanics gain experience here. Many of the smaller airports are struggling because of a lack of support from the communities who view this as a federal issue. There is no coordinated effort to maintain a system of airports for the national good. The previous government recognized that there may be a policy hole and committed to work with the provincial Transport Ministers to define a role for smaller airports. I trust that you will continue this initiative. But the issue extends beyond support for smaller airports. I believe that the primary reason why smaller airports are struggling, along with virtually all of the non-airline sectors of aviation, which I refer to as General Aviation, is that there is no comprehensive air policy beyond that which addresses airline needs. This lack of direction in large part contributed to a National Airports Policy that essentially protected the 26 or so major airports and left all others to fend for themselves. As a result, decisions are being made at the local level without regard for how they will impact neighbouring airports and communities or the air transportation infrastructure as a whole. I would like to propose that your Policy Branch extend their efforts to include examination of the policy for General Aviation. To help get the process started, I have prepared a document entitled A General Aviation Policy for Canada for your review. It explains how government initiatives to date fall short of addressing the needs of the GA sector, despite the fact that it is much larger in number of aircraft, pilots, maintenance personnel, airports and other infrastructure than all of the airlines combined. I look forward to your reaction to this proposal, in the interest of the future of General Aviation. Yours truly, Kevin Psutka
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