Transport committee  Yes, Chair, that is absolutely the case.

Transport committee  Mr. Chair, we do, in fact, do a survey of the passengers who bring complaints to us afterwards, and we do measure complainants' level of satisfaction with our service.

Transport committee  Mr. Chair, first of all, we would be happy to provide after this meeting those statistics that were mentioned. I will also say that all of our adjudicated complaints are on our website. For those that are actually adjudicated, the decisions are published on our website. That information about adjudicated cases is also provided to our facilitators, who deal with the vast majority of cases in discussions with the airlines and the passengers.

Transport committee  Mr. Chair, I can't speak for the members of the agency who would adjudicate and issue decisions on each case based on the evidence before them. I will say, however, that there are means to extend parts of a decision that apply to one complainant to the other passengers on a flight.

Transport committee  The agency makes regulation based on the legislative framework that the agency is presented with. We would need either a change to the legislative framework or direction from the minister to change the regulatory framework.

Transport committee  The agency has these two roles. These roles are set in the law, both as administrative tribunal and as a regulator. That is based on the current legislative framework.

Transport committee  Mr. Chair, there's a question about power imbalance. In fact, the agency plays an important role in facilitating the interaction between the passenger and airline. First of all, through our informal facilitation process, an agency facilitator sits down with the passenger and a representative of the airline, in order to air out the issues in dispute and try to come to a resolution.

Transport committee  Thank you, Chair. The main way by which the agency oversees compliance with the APPR is through the resolution of complaints made by passengers against airlines. This is because complaint resolution is helpful individually to the complaining passenger since it can result in the passenger obtaining a remedy from the airline.

Transport committee  Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the committee for the invitation to appear today. As you noted, I am accompanied by my colleague Michelle Greenshields. Chair, if it's okay with you, we'll share our five minutes of opening remarks. First, as a regulator, the Canadian Transport Agency develops regulations in accordance with legislation, implements regulations, issues licences and determinations, and enforces regulations.

Transport committee  Thank you, Chair. There are several ways in which the agency's independence is safeguarded. The composition and structure given to the agency under the act include several specific safeguards to ensure that the CTA is not controlled or inappropriately influenced by the government or others.

Transport committee  I think that was a two-part question. To perform some of its regulatory functions, the agency does engage with government officials, with the industries it regulates, and with consumer and disability rights organizations. That engagement is required by law or government policies when the CTA develops certain regulatory instruments.

Transport committee  Mr. Chair, I would say that we definitely have the expertise to handle the complaints before us and to handle our mandate. We have a deep expertise within the agency on rail and air matters, which we apply to the subject matter of complaints. As I said, we've made great strides in using the resources that we have and that we've been given.

Transport committee  We handle the requests that we receive. It is true that the government had to come to the airlines' aid during the pandemic to help them to get through it. Did that have an effect on the handling of complaints by the agency? Probably, but those are two different issues. Government help is one thing; handling of complaints by the agency is another.

Transport committee  I seem to be having some technical problems. Can you hear me, Chair?

Transport committee  Chair, as I said, I think that, where interline agreements are in place, they are enforced whenever they come up in complaints, and the agency pronounces upon whether the terms and conditions in an airline's tariff were respected or not in awarding compensation.