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Air Canada has a vision of turning Toronto’s Pearson International Airport into a global aviation hub to rival Chicago’s O’Hare — but the airline’s CEO says that it could all be undone by the Ontario Liberal government’s determination to dramatically increase jet fuel taxes and drive away air traffic.

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Air Canada has ordered 37 of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets.





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“That policy is a really bad idea,” Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu said in an interview Thursday in the airline’s Toronto office.

“We’re trying to build a world-class business and we cannot do it competitively with these regressive forms of taxation.”

In its most recent budget, Ontario’s Liberal government said it will increase the aviation fuel tax to 6.7 cents per litre by April 1, 2017, a 148% hike from its current level of 2.7 cents. The revenue will go towards transit and other transportation infrastructure.