There’s more pushback against Prime Minister Mark Carney’s plans to invite private investment into Canada’s four largest airports. The Union of Canadian Transportation Employees issued a statement Tuesday that Vancouver International Airport and Calgary International Airport, both of which employ some of its members, are “not for sale.” “We have a model that works. Selling a stake in our airports, whether to foreign or domestic investors, is not in the interest of the travelling public,” said union president Barry Tchir, in the statement, Airports currently run under a not-for-profit model, in which local airport authorities manage federally owned land via long-term leases. The UCTE said it was “shocked and disappointed” to learn through news reports YVR and YYC are part of the federal government’s partial-privatization discussions through news reports. The union had been asking for a meeting with Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon since the potential for “alternative models of ownership in Canadian airports” was raised in the government’s spring economic update. That update promised the proposal would be “advanced with the input of the airport authorities and other stakeholders, including airlines and local governments.” Privatization always comes at a cost, Tchir argued. “Private investors come in looking for a profit margin and returns,” the union president said. “It can be through degraded service, higher fees or staffing cuts and deteriorating working conditions for the workers who make the place run. Of course, it is often all of those together.” The concerns echoed those expressed by other groups, including the Canadian Labour Congress and Unifor Aviation Council of Canada. During a keynote speech at the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto earlier in the day, Carney insisted private investment would lead to a “better passenger experience.” “We’re selling a concession, not privatizing the airport,” he said. The prime minister told attendees the government would follow “best practice in other countries” and retain ownership of underlying land and assets while bringing investors in for “operations and growth.” Federal spending would then be diverted from the four major airports—including Toronto Pearson Airport and Montréal Trudeau International Airport—into smaller regional airports, with an aim of reducing traveller costs at those locations. With files from CTV News Ottawa bureau manager Stephanie Ha
