Transport committee  Absolutely. We believe the Blue Line is the quickest, most efficient and most effective way to move workers. It would definitely bring in workers, with respect to the cargo facilities and the other areas of the airport. We have had strong conversations, and we believe that the Blue Line, if funded, could be ready to go and effective.

Transport committee  Through the pandemic, our communications with Transport Canada and the minister improved and became much more significant and much more accessible over the course of the pandemic to discuss the issues. At times, when we consulted with respect to various decisions, we had conversations and we spent time articulating our positions to the ministry.

Transport committee  YYC is the only one of the four major airports that doesn't have a direct rail connection between the airport and downtown or a plan to build it. That is a piece of critical infrastructure that we know our catchment area and our city demand. We know there are various projects being discussed, but that is critical and important to us.

Transport committee  Thank you very much for the question. Certainly, the protection of the personal information of guests and passengers is critically important. and the use of those technologies needs to really address that. We need to partner with those organizations that have been successful in making sure they are protecting that technology and have the processes in place to continue to monitor and moderate those technologies as we move forward.

Transport committee  I think I will jump in and just provide one additional piece of context with respect to the rapid return. Similar to the issues that are being faced with respect to passport offices, we at the airports are also facing these issues with respect to our pass offices and the ability of new employees and new or returning staff members to receive their restricted access identity cards, the RAICs.

Transport committee  I can provide a little bit of additional perspective. We definitely are seeing stabilization of some of the labour shortage issues that some of our partners were seeing. At the Calgary airport, we are going to be back up to full staffing at U.S. Customs and Border Protection starting November 1, which was a big issue for us.

Transport committee  It's very important to us as the airport authority to provide the best experience for our guests, so we invest in making that experience the best, but we need the support of the government. We do need the Minister of Transport to be participating, to be investing in the infrastructure, and to be investing in those partners and in those services—investing in better technology to move passengers through CATSA and through the screening points, and not having to take every single item out of your bag in order to proceed.

Transport committee  Thank you very much for that question. I'm not surprised when we talk about the fact that the experience involves all partners doing their part. It's a joint accountability that we all have together. To the comments that have been made, whether it's an issue at CATSA or an issue at CBSA, for us as the airports, it's a question that comes up.

Transport committee  Thank you for the question. Like the Vancouver airport, the Calgary airport did not experience some of the challenges that recently occurred with the surge in passengers. We are very mindful and we have a very strong relationship with our port director for CBSA. As a result, we have been able to assist CBSA through the provision of additional staff in the customs hall to move the passengers through the kiosk system and into the appropriate lines.

Transport committee  With respect to Calgary, yes, we are predicting 2024 as well. We were originally predicting 2025, but recovery has come back more quickly. I think it's really important for the committee to appreciate and understand that while Calgary didn't experience the same challenges that Montreal and Toronto did, the airports are an ecosystem.

Transport committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, members of the committee. My name is Carmelle Hunka, and I am a vice-president at the Calgary Airport Authority. I'm very pleased to be before the committee today on behalf of the authority. I want to open by stating that the experience we provide to guests at YYC Calgary International Airport relies on multiple partners to ensure travellers are provided with a smooth and efficient experience.

Health committee  We are continuing to support the testing program that will be at the airport, and we are actually utilizing the same testing facility that we are using for our employees. We will therefore continue to have that facility available. We have been incredibly resilient in providing for testing and being able to ramp up or ramp down.

Health committee  All indications were that this pilot program was successful, including the Public Health Agency of Canada's acknowledgement of the success of the program. As far as we were concerned, it was a highly successful program, but for consistency with the rest of the country, it was ended.

Health committee  Thank you.

Health committee  Certainly, the airport authorities do support the opening of safe travel corridors and the use of a vaccine passport or some type of notification that could identify vaccines. We feel that vaccine passports, in conjunction with continued testing, would enable the travelling public to gain confidence in us to provide a safe travel experience, so we would support such activity.