Evidence of meeting #28 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was agency.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:20 p.m.
Director General, Air Policy, Department of Transport
No, not that I'm aware of.
5:20 p.m.
Director General, Air Policy, Department of Transport
Every single complaint is dealt with.
5:20 p.m.
Legal Counsel, Legal Services, Department of Transport
Most complaints come through e-mail, I would say.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
David McGuinty Liberal Ottawa South, ON
Right. It's either fired off a desk, to an airline company, or it's off to some other—
5:20 p.m.
Director General, Air Policy, Department of Transport
And then it comes back from the airline company. It's not as though it's fired off to the airline company and who cares what the outcome is? There's a feedback loop that then brings back the result of that process to the agency in terms of whether it has been effective or not.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
5:20 p.m.
Director General, Air Policy, Department of Transport
Correct, in 2005.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
David McGuinty Liberal Ottawa South, ON
And each one is dealt with. So to Monsieur Laframbroise's concern about a Canadian resident or citizen who is complaining, getting some kind of response, is it an unfounded concern, a level one response? What kind of response do I get if I send an e-mail that says, “Air Canada lost my baggage again”, or “I couldn't get through to or understand the agent in Mumbai who's tracking the luggage for me”? What kind of response do I get back?
5:20 p.m.
Director General, Air Policy, Department of Transport
If the complainant has not, himself or herself, already gone to the carrier, what the agency will do is ship off the complaint to the carrier for resolution and will notify the complainant that this is the first step, that this is what has been done. They then work with the carrier in terms of making sure that a reasonable period of time is allowed to attempt to resolve the issue. In many cases, it is resolved at that level. Seventy percent of level one considerations end at level one; they don't continue to level two. But 30% continue on to level two. They're either not resolved or they're not resolved adequately to the satisfaction of the complainant, in which case they then proceed to a more detailed assessment by the agency.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
David McGuinty Liberal Ottawa South, ON
Okay.
Just going back to Monsieur Laframbroise's concern, then, as it's presently drafted, Bill C-11 would compel the agency—no matter who's in charge of it, what president, what CEO, what budget it was working with—to conduct its affairs this way. In the future, three years or five years from now, could someone say, “That's enough, we're not going to treat level one complaints the same way we've been treating them for the past five years”?
5:20 p.m.
Director General, Air Policy, Department of Transport
No, I think there is an obligation to say that they will review and attempt to resolve, and may, if appropriate, move to subsequent steps. So those obligations will be there.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
David McGuinty Liberal Ottawa South, ON
Well, I think I understand English, and it says that the agency “may review”.
5:20 p.m.
Director General, Air Policy, Department of Transport
I think the language that has just been proposed that perhaps we consider is, “on the Agency's behalf, shall review and may attempt to resolve”.
The French version would therefore read:“L'Office ou son délégué examine toute plainte déposée en vertu de la présente partie et peut tenter de régler [...]”
To me, that's perhaps a clarification. It is indeed what we had intended.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
David McGuinty Liberal Ottawa South, ON
My concern is longer term. When will this come back to this committee or a subsequent committee or to the House for re-examination? I forget the timelines we're looking at, but my concern is, in five years from now, if there are budgetary differences, if there's different management, if there's a different government—
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
5:25 p.m.
NDP
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
Brian Jean Conservative Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB
We agree. The art of persuasion has painted a picture and a portrait far beyond bleak, Mr. Julian.
5:25 p.m.
NDP
