[Myst]

I don’t disagree that there is a basic service aspect. I don’t think that necessarily means the gov’t pays for the airports.

Back before the all-in pricing was put on airline ticket prices, I remember people complaining about taxes. I remember looking at the details on my receipts. People were complaining about fuel surcharges (which went to the airlines) as a “tax.” Or the airport authority charges. The airlines didn’t like to correct them on that. People complained about Canada, and didn’t realize that a bunch of the taxes listed (US immigration and agriculture inspection and US passenger or terminal tax) were from the US, because the US is smart enough to know it’s more palatable to tax international than domestic travel, and because they were trying to recover costs from international travel that are paid by gov’t (subsidies, even if that word is unpopular) domestically.

When Westjet announced YYT-LGW service, some communities in Labrador complained that was the wrong move - that government should focus on fixing the very high cost to fly regional flights to the north. Of course it wasn’t government directing LGW. And there is a drastically different economy of scale for even a 737 on LGW versus a 10 seater. But they weren’t wrong that government has some responsibility to make sure basic services are provided.

I’m not in favour of making a trip to Cancun $100 cheaper. I’d be more in favour of developing a way for government to support essential service. Not just from Labrador, Lynn Lake, or Aklavik, but Dryden or Lloydminster and even making sure short regional hops between major centres like YQR-YEG maintain some service, because in a lot of cases it’s become harder to go between nearby places than further flung ones.