Thank you.
Number one, I've talked a lot about Air Canada, but it's not limited to Air Canada in terms of my experience in Canada.
Number two, my better experiences are anywhere outside this country. I'm sorry to say that, and I'm embarrassed as a Canadian to say it, but it proves that others can get it right. Why the heck can't we?
I talked about being passed like a baton. For the longest time—for decades—in terminal 1 in Toronto, you came through with one person taking you from the airplane all the way through customs to getting your bags and getting you out the door and into a cab. Now, because some geniuses put their heads together and thought this was a better thing, for the last 10, 15, 20 or maybe 50 metres, you have to be passed to an airport authority person—literally, for the last few metres. You spend more time having the two ground officials taking your boarding pass and scanning, as you're leaving one and being passed to the other one, than it takes to get out the darned door. Try that after a 13-hour flight, when you just want to get home and go to bed.
When you come in at Toronto, again, at Pearson terminal 1.... I'm just going to give this as an illustration. We haven't audited right across the airport—we can't; we're volunteers. However, it's important for you to understand this. You come to the counter, and then they tell you to sit and wait, sometimes upwards of an hour. However, the seats aren't right next to where the staff are. You're sitting there for an hour. You can't ask somebody where the bathroom is. A couple of flights ago, I actually thought they had forgotten me. There was no one to ask, so I just stood up. I heard someone that sounded like an airport.... How's this for dignity? I was standing up and bellowing, “Excuse me. Do you work for the airlines?” Why should we have to do that?
Similarly, on the way out—again, depending on this baton passing—you could be escorted from the aircraft to a seating area before you go through customs and then you are told to wait and that someone would come and get you. You ask, “How long?” They don't know, and they leave. There is no staff there to ask. I've sat there hearing somebody in another seat next to me saying, “I need help. I need to go to the bathroom.” This is an adult, in public, in an airport. Welcome to Canada.
This is not the way we should be treated.