Transport Committee on Dec. 1st, 2020

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

Mr. Streiner, the APPR gives airlines 30 days to respond to customer complaints. Why can't your own agency meet that standard?

You have said today you have a backlog. Why do you think any Canadian, or anyone for that matter, would complain to your agency and wait when they can complain to a carrier and get an answer in 30 days?

[Scott Streiner]

Mr. Chair, I think the folks seeking compensation should and, under the APPR, must turn to the airline to make their claims.

If we're talking about compensation, or the inconvenience associated with flight delays or cancellations, the regulations state that a claim should be made with the airline. But if they can't resolve that claim with the airline, then they can file a complaint with the CTA. We deal with all of those complaints on their merit, as I have said.

As far as the backlog goes, obviously the CTA wants to get through complaints as quickly as it can. As I noted in my opening comments, we received an unprecedented and extraordinary number of complaints after the APPR came into force, 11,000 complaints and another 11,000 since the pandemic began. It's unheard of for a quasi-judicial tribunal to receive 22,000 complaints when just five years earlier it was receiving 800.

We are absolutely mobilizing to get through those complaints as quickly as possible. We have already cleared 6,000 of them since the pandemic began, and we will continue to do everything we can to provide timely service to Canadians.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. Streiner, and thank you, Ms. Kusie.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses, too.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

We're now going to move on for six minutes to Mr. Rogers of the Liberal party.

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I welcome all the guests today.

A few of my questions may fall under transport or the health sector, but I will leave it to our guests to decide if they want to respond to some of the questions.

For the last number of weeks and months, all of us MPs have been meeting with airline officials, airport security people, airport CEOs, regional airlines, large airlines, and many of them have been advocating for support for the industry.

Interestingly enough, rapid testing was certainly a big part of what I was lobbied for by many people. There were other supports such as rent relief and fees that are charged across the country to airports and airlines. Many of these proposed solutions were broad ranging. Ms. Kusie referred to some of the numbers in the area of $7 billion, but also, of course, the industry was suggesting that maybe some of that might be in the form of loan guarantees, non-repayable grants and a whole slew of possible solutions.

I want to focus a little on rapid testing in particular, because interestingly enough, many of the people I talked to really focused on that and said that things like that were more important than some of the money they were requesting.

Can you tell me how many rapid tests have been deployed by the federal government to the provinces so far, and whether or not these are still being deployed across the country?

[Aaron McCrorie]

Mr. Chair, perhaps I could take that question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Go ahead, Mr. McCrorie.

[Aaron McCrorie]

In terms of the number of tests that have been deployed, we'd have to defer to our colleagues at Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

I could note that from a Transport Canada perspective, we saw that the restrictions at the border, obviously at the outset of the pandemic, were very effective in limiting the importation of COVID-19. We are, as I've noted, working with our partners to look at what measures could be put in place to reduce or change some of those border restrictions, in particular via testing. The pilot projects are a great example of gathering evidence to support, perhaps, a national program of testing as an alternative to quarantine. Ultimately, it will be our colleagues in the health sector who will make decisions about which tests are used, when to apply them and how to apply them.

Again, I think we play a really important role from a facilitation point of view. We've done some work with airports to look at what a testing regime would look like logistically and how you would set it up in your airport, for example. We've developed what is called an “operational plan” to support that, if and when a decision for testing is made. We've worked with the International Civil Aviation Organization and other international partners to look at some of the international standards or best practices for a testing regime, if we go down that path.

Again, as I've suggested, we've been working with domestic partners like the Calgary airport and the Vancouver airport as well as the airlines to help them set up the testing pilot projects that are being led by our health colleagues.

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

I'd like to ask you a follow-up question.

Can rapid testing at airports and other types of border crossings affect traffic? Is rapid testing going to be an option to consider for boosting the tourist industry and attracting international travellers?

Finally, what are the COVID-19 screening best practices at airports around the world that you might be familiar with?

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

You're on mute, Mr. McCrorie.

[Aaron McCrorie]

Sorry about that, Mr. Chair. I was hoping I'd go through my career without being told I was on mute, but apparently not.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

No problem.

[Aaron McCrorie]

Again, the idea of the pilot projects is exactly to determine the most effective types of tests to use and where to apply them. There are concerns, obviously, if you're looking at the land border, about what that might mean from a congestion point of view. Consideration is even being given to testing prior to departure so that we can look at reduced congestion at the airport.

I talked a bit about trying to build a touchless journey. What we're really trying to do is to make sure that we can maintain physical distancing in an airport environment and reduce that congestion.

The pilot projects are giving us good information about what tests to use and where to apply them, and we're really proud to be working with our health colleagues on that. In terms of which specific test to use under what circumstances, I'd have to defer to my health colleagues for that.

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

I have one final question for you.

Based on your experience and that of the travel industry and what you know about rapid testing, do you think it's one of the key solutions for getting people back in the aircrafts and flying again so that we can have people moving across the country for the benefit of the tourism industry?

[Aaron McCrorie]

We tried to look at it from an aviation safety and security point of view, or even a transportation safety and security point of view. We look at layers of measures. It's about building layers of measures that protect...but also as we make adjustments, putting in place different layers of measures. Testing of some kind or another, I think, is showing a lot of promise as an alternative to quarantine. We're not there yet, but the pilot projects are helping us build that evidence base that will allow us to make that decision down the road. I think some changing of the measures is going to be key to the successful relaunch of the aviation industry.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. McCrorie.

Thank you, Mr. Rogers.

We're now going to move on for six minutes to the Bloc Québécois.

Mr. Barsalou-Duval, the floor is yours.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

My first question is for Mr. Streiner of the Canadian Transportation Agency.

I'd like to know if you and the Canadian Transportation Agency are very familiar with the Air Transportation Regulations.

[Scott Streiner]

Thank you for your question, Mr. Barsalou-Duval. The answer is very short: yes.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Streiner.

Actually, I'd like to know if you are familiar with subparagraph 122(c)(xii), which talks about the right to obtain a refund when the carrier fails to provide transportation for any reason.

In your opening remarks, you mentioned that nowhere in the legislation does it state that companies had to make these refunds. However, subparagraph 122(c)(xii) states the opposite:

(xii) refunds for services purchased but not used, whether in whole or in part, either as a result of the client's unwillingness or inability to continue or the air carrier's inability to provide the service for any reason...

[Scott Streiner]

In fact, this provision and regulation requires that the carrier or the airline specify its terms and conditions of services. This regulation doesn't specifically require terms and conditions of service. In other words, there is no minimum obligation in this regulation to refund customers in these situations.

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

Thank you, Mr. Streiner. However, if we read paragraph 122(c) correctly, what I just mentioned is one of the minimum conditions that tariffs must contain. So it's contained in the price of all tickets and in all carrier fares. This regulation applies to everyone, doesn't it?

[Scott Streiner]

This regulation applies, but it says that the airline must specify its terms and conditions of service. It does not specify exactly what conditions of service the tariffs must contain. It does not establish a minimum obligation.

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

Mr. Streiner, paragraph 122(c) states that, “Every tariff shall contain … the following matters, namely”, among which is noted that there must be a refund if the service is not provided. I think it's pretty clear that there has to be a refund.

[Scott Streiner]

It's clear that carriers must explain to passengers the terms and conditions of service contained in their tariffs. The interpretation of this regulation is clear. I don't want to repeat myself, but this regulation does not specify the exact content of tariffs.