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ATAC Welcomes New Minister of Transport

Cliff Mackay, welcomed the appointment of The Honourable Lawrence Cannon as the new Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.


September 19, 2007  By Carey Fredericks

OTTAWA, Feb. 6 /CNW Telbec/ – Cliff Mackay, President and CEO of ATAC today welcomed the appointment of The Honourable Lawrence Cannon as the new Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.
"On behalf of the nearly 300 members of the Air Transport Association of Canada I would like to offer my congratulations to Mr. Cannon and to the new Conservative government. ATAC members look forward to working with the Minister and his government to further our common goals of fostering a healthy, world-leading and competitive aviation sector in Canada," Mr. Mackay said.

"The Conservative Party of Canada has made many positive statements in the past about the need to reduce airport rents and to implement other measures to improve the competitiveness and productivity of commercial aviation in Canada. We are very optimistic that this new government will pursue the type of fundamental rethink of aviation policy which is so necessary in Canada", said Mackay.

"For too long the government of Canada has regarded commercial aviation in Canada as a profit centre to be squeezed dry; collecting hundreds of millions of dollars every year in taxes and fees which add significantly to the cost of air travel for Canadians while adding no value to the service. These 'empty calories' in the system take away from the fundamental purpose of air policy in Canada, which is to provide Canadians with the most cost-effective and efficient transportation services possible, within our world-
leading safety and security context", concluded Mackay.

Mr. Cannon's appointment comes at a time when the industry is facing significant challenges including airport rents, airport governance, fuel excise taxes and air transport security charges. Mr. Mackay will write to the new minister requesting a meeting at the earliest possible date to discuss these and other aviation industry issues.

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ATAC's key recommendations to the incoming government can be accessed on-line at: www.atac.ca

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