Minister comments on Air Travelers Security Tax

Kevin Aylward, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, along with Percy Barrett, Minister of Works, Services and Transportation and Tom Lush, Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs, added his voice to those demanding the federal government reconsider the levy of a Air Travelers Security Tax.

This tax is a $12 surcharge imposed on all one way air tickets regardless of distance traveled and is applied directly to users of the air travel system who will bear the entire cost of $2.2 billion over five years. Rather than directed specifically towards the cost of operating the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), this money goes into general federal revenues.

Mr. Aylward stated that the tax places an additional burden on travelers who are already overtaxed. With airfares already grossly inflated by numerous surcharges to cover specific expenses such as NavCanada fees, insurance increases and airport improvement costs, further additional costs will deter travelers from anything but essential travel.

These views were conveyed last week to federal ministers Collenette and Martin in a joint letter from Provincial and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Tourism.

Minister Aylward stated: "This tax should be reviewed immediately. Newfoundland and Labrador is strongly supportive of national air security measures because this is a major factor in regaining consumer confidence but we have grave concerns about how funds to support these initiatives will be generated. That the federal Minister of Finance has changed his original position of conducting an annual review of the tax and will now conduct a review in the fall, only six months after its implementation, indicates the federal minister may also have some concerns.

"We will have gone through our entire peak tourism season with travelers required to pay what may well be excessive fees if this review is only conducted in the fall. This will have a significant impact on leisure travel and tourism development and will be a barrier to the province achieving its projected tourism growth in 2002."

An important issue to be addressed is determining if the money collected through the tax would be greater than the level of funding needed to operate the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA). The CATSA was established to oversee air travel security in Canada.

The minister noted that the same federal Budget which identified this clear user-pay policy for this national security initiative also provided significant levels of funding from the public purse for border crossing improvements and the fast-tracking of passengers through customs.

"If the federal government is willing to distribute the costs for some national initiatives of improved safety across all society, then the air sector should be treated similarly," said Aylward.

The minister concluded by stating that he will continue to work with his colleagues across the country and with interested partners within the province to deal with this and other issues which impact air access in the province. "I believe, and my colleagues believe, that this concern should be addressed sooner rather than later. There are too many questions which remain unanswered and too many issues which should be clarified immediately to allow this matter to be deferred."

Media contact: Simon N. Lono, Communications, (709) 729-0928.

2002 04 03                         5:05 p.m.