Agency Rulings

Order No. 1999-A-196

April 23, 1999

IN THE MATTER OF an application by 650584 Alberta Inc. carrying on business as Alberta Citylink and/or Palliser Air, for an abridgement of the period of notice set out in subsection 64(2) of the Canada Transportation Act, S.C., 1996, c. 10, to fourteen (14) days only, with respect to the proposed discontinuance of its service to Cold Lake, Alberta, on May 10, 1999.

File No. M4210/A760-1

The application was received by the Canadian Transportation Agency (hereinafter the Agency) on April 17, 1999 and was complete and ready for processing on April 19, 1999.

Under Licence No. 972219, 650584 Alberta Inc. carrying on business as Alberta Citylink and/or Palliser Air (hereinafter the Licensee) is authorized to operate a domestic service, small aircraft.

Pursuant to subsection 64(2) of the Canada Transportation Act (hereinafter the CTA), a licensee shall not implement a proposal to discontinue a domestic service until the expiration of sixty (60) days after the notice is given or until the expiration of such shorter period as the Agency may, on application by the licensee, specify by order.

Pursuant to subsection 64(3) of the CTA, the Agency, in considering whether to specify a shorter notice period, shall have regard to (a) the adequacy of alternative modes of public transportation available at or in the vicinity of the point served, (b) other means by which the point served by the service is or is likely to be served by air; and (c) the particular circumstances of the licensee.

The Licensee submits that the Canadian Military's decision to shut down or substantially reduce its daily shuttle bus scheduled service between Cold Lake and Edmonton will not occur, and that without this guaranteed traffic, it is impossible for the Cold Lake scheduled air service to become profitable.

The Licensee indicates that there are other modes of transportation to and from Cold Lake and that in addition to the Military's shuttle bus service, Greyhound operates a bus service 5 times daily during the week and once a day on weekends.

In reviewing the request, the Agency has considered the adequacy of alternative modes of public transportation available at or in the vicinity of the above-noted point, other means by which the point is served or likely to be served by air, and the particular circumstances of the Licensee. The Agency notes that Cold Lake is well served by road and bus service and that there are two active air carriers based within close proximity. Consequently, the Agency is of the opinion that the Licensee should be required to give thirty (30) days notice rather than the fourteen (14) days notice requested in the application.

The Agency hereby directs the Licensee, pursuant to section 64 of the CTA, to give notice of discontinuance in the format set out in Schedule III of the Air Transportation Regulations, SOR/88-58, as amended (hereinafter the ATR), thirty (30) days prior to the proposed date of discontinuance and to publish it, in both official languages, in the newspapers with the largest circulation at the point concerned.

In order to enable the Agency to respond promptly and factually to any complaint it may receive concerning the referenced notice of discontinuance, the Licensee is requested to provide the Agency with copies of the notices given to the persons specified in paragraph 14(1)(a) of the ATR, copies of the notices published in the newspapers as required by paragraph 14(1)(b) of the ATR, the names of each newspaper in which the notice was given and the date the notice was published.