Canadian Airports: Who Has Governing Power?

With possible airport privatization on the horizon for Canadian airports, and thanks to Liberal Transport Minister Marc Garneau's recent promise to introduce legislation loosening restrictions on foreign investment in airlines, airports have become a hot topic in the media. However, airports can often seem like mini-cities unto themselves, where competing stakeholders are pitted against each other. Along with an airport come retail services, security concerns, diplomatic relationships, transportation needs, and zoning restrictions, just to name a few. Given the overlapping and often countering interests at play at an airport, it is often confusing to determine the governing regime.