TORONTO —
Passenger rights advocates are encouraging Canadians to refuse travel vouchers for cancelled flights, warning that consumers are entitled to refunds by law in Canada — a rule they say is not enforced.
“Airlines are currently stealing the public’s money in Canada,” Gabor Lukacs, president of the Airline Passenger Rights group, told CTV’s NewsDay on Quibi.
“When your flight is cancelled, you are entitled to a refund. It’s the law in Canada… the difference is if Canada doesn’t enforce the rights of passengers.”
Airline executive have repeatedly defended their decision not to issue refunds to customers after thousands of flights were cancelled due to COVID-19. Instead many have saddled customers with vouchers they likely won’t use in the foreseeable future, as borders remain closed amid the ongoing pandemic.
But Lukacs and other rights advocates are encouraging consumers to refuse the vouchers altogether.
“Our advice to people is do not accept the voucher. Make it very clear, if you don’t accept it, [that] it’s not something that they can impose on you,” he says.
Earlier this week, executives from Air Canada, WestJet and Air Transat were questioned about these refund refusals by parliamentarians during a House of Commons health committee meeting.
During the meeting, Jared Mikoch-Gerke, manager of aviation security at WestJet Airlines Ltd., stated that an April statement from the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) said “that airline tariffs do not always provide for cash refunds, especially in cases beyond our control.”
However, in a statement sent to CTVNews.ca on Tuesday, the CTA disputed Mikoch-Gerke’s claim, stating that the CTA “never granted airlines the right to refuse a cash refund for a cancellation related to COVID-19.”
“If a person believes they are entitled to a refund for a flight that was cancelled for reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic and doesn’t want to accept a voucher, they can ask the airline for a refund,” the statement read.
“If a passenger thinks they are entitled to a refund and the airline refuses to provide one or offers a voucher with conditions the passenger doesn’t want to accept, they can file a complaint with the CTA, which will determine if the airline complied with the terms of its tariff. Each case will be decided on its merits.”
Customers with flights originating in the European Union, Switzerland and Iceland due to the pandemic are “entitled to receive a refund,” according to a document recently posted to Air Canada’s website.
The statement cites an EU regulation that grants passengers “the right to choose between reimbursement, rerouting or rebooking the flight at a later date” if their trip is called off by the airline.
This comes after WestJet offered refunds to travellers whose tickets list a U.S. or U.K. city as the destination or origin, provided the flight isn’t a part of a vacation package.
Lukacs notes that if the airline cancels the flight but does not provide a refund in the form of original payment, customers can dispute the claim in the form of a chargeback with their credit card company.
Chargebacks are used to protect credit card customers and are a way for consumers to dispute transactions for services that were not fulfilled. If approved by the credit card company, a refund for the transaction will be processed.
“If your credit card is being unco-operative, refuse to pay your credit card bill,” Lukacs adds.
I ACCEPTED A VOUCHER BUT IT’S ABOUT TO EXPIRE. WHAT CAN I DO?
Lukacs notes that consumers who are stuck with airline vouchers shouldn’t give up the fight just yet.
“I would simply say I didn’t accept it. It was sent to me involuntarily,” he said, encouraging consumers to fight for a refund despite having the voucher.
If the airline still refuses, Lukacs says to threaten action through the credit card company.
“In most cases with most chargebacks it’s a statutory right. It’s guaranteed by your Provinces Consumer Protection Act,” he said. “It is your entitlement.”
On June 4, six consumer associations and civil society members penned a letter to the government asking that they ensure customers be refunded in their original form of payment. However, the government has yet to compel the airline to issue any refunds.
With files from CTV News’ Rachel Gilmore and The Canadian Press.
OTTAWA – The New Democrats confirmed Thursday they won’t help Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives topple the government next week, and intend to join the Bloc Québécois in blocking the Tories’ non-confidence motion.
The planned votes from the Bloc and the New Democrats eliminate the possibility of a snap election, buying the Liberals more time to govern after a raucous start to the fall sitting of Parliament.
Poilievre issued a challenge to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh earlier this week when he announced he will put forward a motion that simply states that the House has no confidence in the government or the prime minister.
If it were to pass, it would likely mean Canadians would be heading to the polls, but Singh said Thursday he’s not going to let Poilievre tell him what to do.
Voting against the Conservative motion doesn’t mean the NDP support the Liberals, said Singh, who pulled out of his political pact with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a few weeks ago.
“I stand by my words, Trudeau has let you down,” Singh said in the foyer outside of the House of Commons Thursday.
“Trudeau has let you down and does not deserve another chance.”
Canadians will have to make that choice at the ballot box, Singh said, but he will make a decision about whether to help trigger that election on a vote-by-vote basis in the House.
The Conservatives mocked the NDP during Question Period for saying they had “ripped up” the deal to support the Liberals, despite plans to vote to keep them in power.
Poilievre accused Singh of pretending to pull out of the deal to sway voters in a federal byelection in Winnipeg, where the NDP was defending its long-held seat against the Conservatives.
“Once the votes were counted, he betrayed them again. He’s a fake, a phoney and fraud. How can anyone ever believe what the sellout NDP leader says in the future?” Poilievre said during Question Period Thursday afternoon.
At some point after those comments, Singh stepped out from behind his desk in the House and a two-minute shouting match ensued between the two leaders and their MPs before the Speaker intervened.
Outside the House, Poilievre said he plans to put forward another non-confidence motion at the next opportunity.
“We want a carbon-tax election as soon as possible, so that we can axe Trudeau’s tax before he quadruples it to 61 cents a litre,” he said.
Liberal House leader Karina Gould says there is much work the government still needs to do, and that Singh has realized the consequences of potentially bringing down the government. She refused to take questions about whether her government will negotiate with opposition parties to ensure their support in future confidence motions.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet hasn’t ruled out voting no-confidence in the government the next time a motion is tabled.
“I never support Liberals. Help me God, I go against the Conservatives on a vote that is only about Pierre Poilievre and his huge ambition for himself,” Blanchet said Thursday.
“I support the interests of Quebecers, if those interests are also good for Canadians.”
A Bloc bill to increase pension cheques for seniors aged 65 to 74 is now at “the very centre of the survival of this government,” he said.
The Bloc needs a recommendation from a government minister to OK the cost and get the bill through the House.
The Bloc also wants to see more protections for supply management in the food sector in Canada and Quebec.
If the Liberals can’t deliver on those two things, they will fall, Blanchet said.
“This is what we call power,” he said.
Treasury Board President Anita Anand wouldn’t say whether the government would be willing to swallow the financial implications of the Bloc’s demands.
“We are focused at Treasury Board on ensuring prudent fiscal management,” she said Thursday.
“And at this time, our immediate focus is implementing the measures in budget 2024 that were announced earlier this year.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – Treasury Board President Anita Anand has been sworn in as federal transport minister at a ceremony at Rideau Hall, taking over a portfolio left vacant after Pablo Rodriguez resigned from cabinet and the Liberal caucus on Thursday.
Anand thanked Rodriguez for his contributions to the government and the country, saying she’s grateful for his guidance and friendship.
She sidestepped a question about the message it sends to have him leave the federal Liberal fold.
“That is a decision that he made independently, and I wish him well,” she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not present for the swearing-in ceremony, nor were any other members of the Liberal government.
The shakeup in cabinet comes just days after the Liberals lost a key seat in a Montreal byelection to the Bloc Québécois and amid renewed calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down and make way for a new leader.
Anand said she is not actively seeking leadership of the party, saying she is focused on her roles as minister and as MP.
“My view is that we are a team, and we are a team that has to keep delivering for our country,” she said.
The minority Liberal government is in a more challenging position in the House of Commons after the NDP ended a supply-and-confidence deal that provided parliamentary stability for more than two years.
Non-confidence votes are guaranteed to come from the Opposition Conservatives, who are eager to bring the government down.
On Thursday morning, Rodriguez made a symbolic walk over the Alexandra Bridge from Parliament Hill to Gatineau, Que., where he formally announced his plans to run for the Quebec Liberal party leadership.
He said he will now sit as an Independent member of Parliament, which will allow him to focus on his own priorities.
“I was defending the priorities of the government, and I did it in a very loyal way,” he said.
“It’s normal and it’s what I had to do. But now it’s more about my vision, the vision of the team that I’m building.”
Rodriguez said he will stay on as an MP until the Quebec Liberal leadership campaign officially launches in January.
He said that will “avoid a costly byelection a few weeks, or months, before a general election.”
The next federal election must be held by October 2025.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he will try to topple the government sooner than that, beginning with a non-confidence motion that is set to be debated Sept. 24 and voted on Sept. 25.
Poilievre has called on the NDP and the Bloc Québécois to support him, but both Jagmeet Singh and Yves-François Blanchet have said they will not support the Conservatives.
Rodriguez said he doesn’t want a federal election right away and will vote against the non-confidence motion.
As for how he would vote on other matters before the House of Commons, “it would depend on the votes.”
Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos will become the government’s new Quebec lieutenant, a non-cabinet role Rodriguez held since 2019.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
— With files from Nojoud Al Mallees and Dylan Robertson
