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Air Canada apologizes after barring passenger from flying to U.S. to see terminally ill husband – CBC.ca

Published

4 years ago

June 17, 2020

Air Canada has apologized to passenger Mayette Musclow of Kelowna, B.C., after it barred her from flying to Cleveland last month to visit her terminally ill husband.

The airline told CBC News that the mishap occurred due to a misinterpretation of complex border restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was at the airport crying,” said Musclow about the incident. “I didn’t know what to do.”

After she read a CBC News story on Friday — which outlined that Canadians can fly to the U.S. during the pandemic — Musclow booked another flight and flew to Cleveland on Tuesday with no complications.

“I’m so overwhelmed right now, so overjoyed,” she told CBC after passing through U.S. Customs.

To help stop the spread of COVID-19, the Canada-U.S. land border is closed to non-essential traffic on both sides of the border until at least July 21. However, Canadians can still enter the U.S. by plane.

But when Musclow tried to check in for her May 24 flight from Kelowna to Cleveland, she said an Air Canada agent told her the U.S. border was closed to Canadians, and wouldn’t let her board the plane.

“I was so upset because we had three months — my husband has three months [to live] and I wanted to go over there and be with him,” said Musclow.

Mayette Musclow waiting at the airport for her flight to the U.S., after passing through U.S. customs. on Tuesday. (Submitted by Mayette Musclow)

Her husband, John Sarvis, has cirrhosis of the liver and a 20 per cent chance of dying within the next three months, according to a May 7 doctor’s note provided by Musclow.

She married Sarvis, an American, last year in Akron, Ohio, near Cleveland, and planned to live with him at his home in Akron once her application for an immigrant visa was approved.

When Sarvis received his dire diagnosis last month, Musclow took time off from her job as a care aid, and booked a flight to be with him.

Canadians can still fly to the U.S.?

Musclow booked her flight with United Airlines, but Air Canada was the carrier for the first leg of the trip from Kelowna to Washington D.C. She said when she purchased her ticket by phone, a United agent assured her that she could fly to the U.S. as a Canadian citizen.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Canadian travellers can currently fly to the U.S. as long as they haven’t visited Brazil, China, Iran, Ireland, the U.K. or 26 European countries in the Schengen Area 14 days prior.

But Musclow said the Air Canada agent at the Kelowna airport told her she needed written permission to travel to the U.S., and wouldn’t issue her a boarding pass.

Musclow said she consulted a second Air Canada agent at the airport who told her that if the airline let her enter the U.S., the U.S. government would fine her $1,000.

“I was shaking,” said Musclow. “It caused me a lot of stress and tears for days. I was just crushed.”

Watch | Windsor-Michigan couple separated by COVID-19 border restrictions talk tricky pregnancy:

Dr. Ashley Cook is currently in Windsor, while her husband Dr. Tom Cook is in Michigan. The couple is expecting their first child, and the ongoing border restrictions have introduced complications to an already tricky pregnancy. 1:49

Musclow said United Airlines returned the reward miles she used to book the flight, but didn’t refund the $130 she paid in taxes and fees.

United told CBC News on Tuesday it will refund the money.

After being contacted by CBC, Air Canada sent Musclow an email on Tuesday offering a $500 travel voucher and its “sincere apologies” for what happened to her at check-in.

Musclow being denied boarding was an “unfortunate situation” that “arose due to a misinterpretation of the complex and changing rules around border closings,” Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick told CBC News in an email.

Because the U.S. land border is closed to Canadian travellers, many Canadians have incorrectly assumed they can’t fly to the U.S.

Two days before Musclow’s flight, Air Canada announced that it had resumed flying to the U.S. The online announcement included a link to a CBP website which states that Canadians can enter the country.

Fear of flying

Because she was denied boarding, Musclow was afraid to book another flight. She said she started losing hope of seeing her husband anytime soon, after learning last week that the Canada-U.S. land border closure would be extended past its then end-date of June 21.

“I was sitting in my bed and saying, ‘What’s happening?'” said Musclow. “Like, I’m just gonna go there and bury my husband when the border’s open?”

Musclow had renewed hope of travelling to Cleveland after she read the June 12 CBC News article about Canadians flying to the U.S.

The story featured a B.C. woman who had who had flown from Vancouver to Seattle last month to visit her sick grandson.

“It was a big, big relief when I found out this lady was able to fly to the U.S.,” said Musclow. “I was like, ‘Why did the agent at Air Canada turn me down?'”

On her second attempt to fly to Cleveland, Air Canada let her board her flight. Musclow landed in Cleveland on Tuesday night.

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Jacob Trouba says ‘there’s no animosity’ toward Rangers following trade rumors

Published

25 mins ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba said Thursday “there’s no animosity” toward the organization following an offseason in which his name was prominently mentioned in trade rumors.

“It’s part of the business of hockey,” Trouba said following the first day of training camp for the reigning Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers.

According to reports, Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury had negotiated a trade that would send New York’s captain to Detroit in late June. The trade fell apart, however, when Trouba submitted his 15-team no-trade list to the Rangers on June 30 and included the Red Wings on it.

“Obviously, had the no-move that turned into the partial no-trade,” said Trouba, whom New York acquired in a trade with Winnipeg in June 2019 and signed to a seven-year, $56 million contract one month later. “That’s life, contracts, hockey business, whatever you want to call it.

“I knew that was coming that summer. It’s not by surprise. It was obviously something that was negotiated at the time.”

The 30-year-old’s insistence that his relationship with Drury is fine echoes what the executive said in a pre-training camp conference call with reporters.

“Jacob and I talk all the time as GM and captain should,” Drury said. “We’ve had a number of different conversations over the course of the summer on a lot of different things. He is very clear as to where he stands with me and what I think of him as a player and as a leader.”

Still, Trouba realizes that the 2024-25 season is likely the last for the current iteration of the Original Six franchise. The Rangers have qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the last three seasons, and have reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022 and 2024. Following last spring’s six-game series loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, Drury wondered aloud in a conference call with reporters if the Rangers’ core players could lead the franchise to a Stanley Cup.

“(It’s) an opportunity that we have in front of us that in all likelihood will probably be the last crack for this core,” Trouba said. “I don’t think that’s a secret by any means. (A) group that’s kind of grown together, spent some years together here, and there’s something we want to accomplish.”

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Veterans Tyson Beukeboom, Karen Paquin lead Canada’s team at WXV rugby tournament

Published

27 mins ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.

WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).

Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.

“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.

“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”

Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.

Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.

Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.

Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.

The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.

Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.

The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.

WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.

The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.

Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.

Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad

Forwards

Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);

Backs

Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).

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Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

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Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko working through rare muscle injury

Published

27 mins ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.

The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.

He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.

Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.

He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.

Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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