Transport Committee on Dec. 1st, 2020

[Scott Streiner]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's true that these distinctions can be important. Some Canadians have purchased refundable tickets, while others have purchased non-refundable tickets. The provisions for a force majeure may be relevant to this discussion. That said, all of these issues must be dealt with in a quasi-judicial process of formal decision-making. These are the kinds of issues we will be addressing in our discussions and decision-making processes.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

In the context of this pandemic, in your opinion, Mr. Streiner, what would have happened to the airlines if they had been required to pay cash refunds to all passengers who applied for them? And what might have been the impact on Canadian travellers and communities?

[Scott Streiner]

Once again, I think this question should be directed more to my colleagues at Transport Canada, but I'll give a bit of an answer anyway.

We know that this crisis is unprecedented, but we don't know exactly what the consequences might have been in the situation you describe. Our role is simply to determine what the obligations of airlines are and what the rights of air passengers are under the law. These are the issues we are dealing with. I don't want to speculate by commenting on hypothetical situations.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Why did you issue directives that credits may be an acceptable alternative to cash reimbursement for travellers whose flights have been cancelled due to COVID-19?

[Scott Streiner]

The reason is simple: we did it to reduce the risk of air passengers ending up without any compensation. As I said, the legislation refers to this great variability in the conditions of service of different airlines; that's what creates this risk for air passengers. The objective of our Statement on Vouchers was to reduce this risk.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

When you say—

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. Streiner and Mr. El-Khoury.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

We will now move on for two and a half minutes to Mr. Barsalou-Duval of the the Bloc.

Mr. Barsalou-Duval, the floor is yours.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Streiner, it was mentioned earlier that there is currently a long wait for complaints to be processed. I have a question for you. If I ran a complaints department and there was a two-year wait for complaints to be processed, and I hadn't processed any complaints in the last nine months, do you think I would keep my job?

[Scott Streiner]

I'm sorry; could you repeat the question?

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

If I ran a complaints department, had two years of backlogged complaints on my desk, and hadn't processed any complaints in the last nine months, would I lose my job?

[Scott Streiner]

For me, the question would be whether all employees work hard and come together to deal with complaints. If it were employees of the Canadian Transportation Agency, the answer would be yes. Everybody is rallying to deal with complaints. As I said, we've managed to handle 6,000 complaints since—

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Thank you. I'm sorry for interrupting you, but I have only two and a half minutes.

[Scott Streiner]

Yes, that's fine.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

You still announced that you wouldn't deal with any complaints about cancelled airline tickets until September 2020, and then you postponed it until 2021.

In March, the Canadian Transportation Agency released the Statement on Vouchers, which was recently revised. I'd like to know if you had any input into this statement.

[Scott Streiner]

All statements, guidelines and guidance material are written by the organization and, as head of the organization, I am always involved, of course.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Have there been any communications where the office of the Minister of Transportation has expressed a willingness to consider the direction the agency might take or the issue of ticket refunds?

[Scott Streiner]

We have communicated with the office of the Minister of Transportation throughout the crisis. Indeed, coordination is important in a crisis like this. It's a question of transparency. The purpose of these communications wasn't to obtain permissions or receive instructions, but to ensure that we don't create confusion in this time of crisis.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. Streiner and Mr. Barsalou-Duval.

We're now going to move on to the NDP with Mr. Bachrach, for two and a half minutes.

The floor is yours.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Streiner, which individuals authored and approved the March 25 statement on vouchers?

[Scott Streiner]

With regard to the statement on vouchers, like all guidance material posted by the CTA—and we post a great deal of non-binding guidance material, policy statements and information—there are many people who participate in its preparation, in its drafting and in its review, so it's a large number of employees who contributed to that.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Who approved it?

[Scott Streiner]

Ultimately, every statement like this is an expression of the organization's guidance. As I emphasized earlier, the statement on vouchers, like these other documents, was non-binding in nature, and it's an expression of guidance or a suggestion to the travelling public by the institution.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

An email from a policy adviser at Transport Canada to Member of Parliament Erskine-Smith revealed that the CTA's members, vice-chair and chair would have approved the statement on vouchers, which gave airlines clearance to refuse refunds.

Is this correct?