Transport committee  Unfortunately not. The way I would articulate it is that Bill C-49 is going to double the amount of compensation that passengers are not going to receive.

Transport committee  With respect to the Canadian Transportation Agency, this is a question of fact shown by the statistics and shown by the number of decisions and nature of decisions issued by the Canadian Transportation Agency. When you have a regulator that claims to have expertise in the airline industry, which accepts that a jumbo jet can be fully boarded by over 200 passengers in five or 10 minutes, then you know something is really wrong at that body.

Transport committee  Absolutely not. Our activities are completely pro bono. Actually, our website has even been set up purely from donations received from the community.

Transport committee  With respect to northern communities, part and parcel of the problem is lack of sufficient competition. However, even as Bill C-49 reads currently with respect to the challenges for the industry, the delays they experience in the north are often caused by not simply “circumstances beyond the airlines' control”, but purely weather.

Transport committee  To me, the CTA as an organization is beyond redemption. I would like to see the responsibilities partially transferred to Transport Canada in terms of the regulation-making powers, and then the enforcement and the consumer protection to a separate agency that has a single mandate of consumer protection and has stronger mechanisms in place to prevent conflict of interest and regulatory capture.

Transport committee  It was 26.

Transport committee  These complaints were related to Air Canada's refusal, for example, to compensate passengers for damage to baggage when they rip off the handle or damage the wheels. More known issues are the liability of WestJet for baggage on domestic flights, which used to be $250 and was raised to over $1,800 as a result of my complaint, or the amount of denied boarding compensation payable by Air Canada, which was raised from $100 to up to $800, depending on the length of the delay, as a result of my complaint.

Transport committee  Is the question for me?

Transport committee  The Montreal convention allows enforcement through the courts. It is also incorporated in the airlines' tariffs, so it is currently the option that offers the most tools for enforcement. It does not carry penalties. It does not have specific enforcement mechanisms. What we do see in claims relating to the Montreal convention is that the passenger makes a claim for a delay in their flight and gets back an email from Air Canada, for example, thanking them for their email and saying, “Here's 25% off your next flight.”

Transport committee  The spike this year was caused by a massive campaign by the Canadian Transportation Agency, as I understand it, to draw attention to itself. However, unfortunately that massive campaign was not coupled with actual structural changes. Passengers are still being sent away without their complaints being resolved.

Transport committee  The answer is yes. The only exceptions are mechanical issues for which a whole model of aircraft is grounded. If a particular model affecting all models across the airline is grounded, that could be extraordinary. Other than that, it's the airline's responsibility to ensure that they have spare aircraft if needed.

Transport committee  The point we are making first is that the testimony of Transport Canada officials requires some rectification. They were claiming that they are taking the best of the European rules, and that's factually not true. One area where I believe that one should not necessarily follow the European rules is with respect to genuine weather delays.

Transport committee  My understanding is that the Canadian Transportation Agency suffers from regulatory capture. We have a manager of enforcement, who admitted under oath on cross-examination that she's on a first-name basis with executives of the industry against whom she's supposed to take enforcement actions.

Transport committee  We have several recommendations. First, we would propose transferring those responsibilities to a body that has the single mandate of consumer protection. The second point is to have mandatory compensation and fines for each violation. For one hour on the tarmac over what is allowed, there should be a fixed amount of penalty and a fixed amount of compensation.

Transport committee  Madam Chair and honourable members, thank you for inviting me to this meeting. It is an exceptional privilege to have the opportunity to present the perspective of air travellers today. Air Passenger Rights is an independent, non-profit network of volunteers devoted to empowering travellers through education, advocacy, investigation, and litigation.