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Under new contract, medical and duty travel flights cost more than economy tickets
Beth Brown · CBC News · Posted: Mar 09, 2020
People flying to, from, and within Nunavut, will have cheaper airline tickets this year, according to the territory.
The Nunavut government says it negotiated lower fares for the public in its new four-year contract with the merged Canadian North.
Since January, economy fares have been reduced by as much as 35 per cent in some parts of the territory, Economic Development and Transportation Minister David Akeeagok told the Legislative Assembly on March 5.
But that doesn’t mean the government is paying for public flights, he said.
It’s not a subsidy, minister says
“What we are doing is using our purchasing power to ensure that Nunavummiut don’t get impacted by the government’s own contracts.”
A territorial government study, done to prepare for a new tender for its medical and duty travel contract, showed the government’s contracts were impacting the high cost of public flights. That’s because airlines were focused on competing for those contracts.
“If you look at the Nunavut airline market, the majority of it is government travel, either through medical or duty travel,” Akeeagok said.
To change that, the department included low-cost economy class tickets in its airline contract. It asks that economy, or public fares, make up around 50 per cent of the seats each week.
“This ticket is expected to be the least costly ticket but also offers the least extra services,” the tender reads. “It is anticipated that this ticket fare will allow Nunavummiut to be able to travel at a more affordable rate.”
Duty travel is the next level and medical travel is the highest cost ticket, but it offers the most flexibility.
A 2019-2020 business plan for Economic Development and Transportation also says including the cost of public airfare in its contract means “a significant reduction in the cost of air travel has been realized for much of Nunavut’s travelling public”.
Public funds for public fares unfair, says MLA
Akeeagok said he is proud of the change. But he could not give an estimate of what this change cost, and didn’t say if the new medical and duty travel flights are more expensive.
“The fares that Nunavummiut have to pay should be lower,” he said.
But Arviat North Whale Cove MLA John Main critiqued the government’s move to spend or leverage public funds on travel.
“It appears to me that this government is now subsidizing the cost of certain types of airline travel for the general public,” he said.
Even if the flights themselves are not being subsidised, he said the change must cost the government somewhere.
“Budgets go towards things like housing, healthcare and education. Those are called public goods,” he said. “I’m not sure when plane tickets from Iqaluit to Ottawa got added to the list.”
The government is now paying a $200 fee for missed staff and medical flights. Until now, the government was not paying for missed medical flights.
The government’s recently awarded airline contract extends four years, but has two annual extensions which means it could extend to six years.
The department is hiring a new manager to oversee the contract.