U.S. and Canadian Political Landscapes: From PFCs to Privatization

From possible routes that government legislation might take to the potential results of upcoming elections, the session on U.S. and Canada government affairs took a deep dive into the current political landscape. These anticipated projections made you really stop and think about where we are headed.

This session was moderated by Kevin M. Burke, President and CEO, ACI-NA, and featured speakers Daniel Robert Gooch, President, Canadian Airports Council, and Annie Russo, Senior Vice President of Government and Political Affairs, ACI-NA. All three discussed government involvement in airports, with Burke and Russo focusing on the U.S. side and Gooch shedding some light on the Canada one. All three concurred that maintaining the safety and the security of the traveling public is of paramount importance and that securing the funding to do so and to maintain the facilities is another. On the legislative side, USMCA (or NAFTA2) is also a major topic that is something of interest to both U.S. and Canada, said Russo.

Russo also summarized some issues specific to the U.S.  government, starting with the general statement that “U.S. politics, at the moment, are pretty complicated.” On top of the list of issues at the moment are gun control, impeachment, judicial nominees, security and, you guessed it, PFCs. Kevin explained, “We will get this done at some point….We are trying to convince them that this is good for America.” Russo added that Congress has decided to increase those fees but divert them. It would be great for TSA and CPB to get more of the money back to allow for more staffing, equipment and to enable our airports to move forward, she said.

Specifically on the Canadian side, Gooch explained the problems with CATSA. “The funding organization has been broken,” he said. However, on March 19 it was decided to convert it to a nonprofit organization with an ambitious completion date of April 1, 2020. He also touched on climate change impacts, flight shaming  and infrastructure funding that has been stuck at $38.5 million for 20 years. “When you have to beg for money every year, you can’t run a business that way,” said Gooch. He also broached the anticipated status of the Green Party and the National Democratic Party (NDP) in the next election.