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Air Canada issues: Passengers to be compensated

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MONTREAL –

Air Canada says it made a mistake in rejecting some compensation claims from the thousands of travellers affected by delayed flights due to computer malfunctions.

In messages to some customers, the airline initially said the information technology fumble was out of its hands, relieving it of obligations to pay them compensation.

“In this instance, the compensation you are requesting does not apply because the disruption was caused by an event outside of our control. This flight is delayed due to an unforeseen technology issue, impacting one of our suppliers, which is impacting our operations,” the airline said Thursday in an email to passenger Douglas Judson.

Judson said he arrived more than three hours late after his June 1 flight from Winnipeg to Toronto was delayed due to the IT defect.

“I find the dishonesty and disrespect of it the most galling,” he said in a phone interview. “Some really interesting logic puzzles at Air Canada as to when something is actually their fault.”

While denying his compensation request, Air Canada offered him a 15 per cent fare discount on any upcoming flight as a “goodwill gesture.”

When contacted by The Canadian Press on Friday, the Montreal-based airline said the response stemmed from an error.

“Air Canada is offering compensation in line with APPR (Air Passenger Protection Regulations) compensation levels for flights which were affected by the IT outage. Some passengers had received erroneous responses from us, and we are in the process of re-contacting them with the correct responses,” spokeswoman Angela Mah stated.

The country’s largest carrier has struggled with intermittent computer problems over the past few weeks.

On May 25 it delayed more than half its flights due to a “technical issue” with the system that the airline uses to communicate with aircraft and monitor their performance. On June 1 it delayed or cancelled more than 500 flights — over three-quarters of its trips that day, according to tracking service FlightAware — due to “IT issues.”

That same day, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra stressed the carrier’s compensation responsibilities to its guests.

“Air Canada has obligations to passengers who are impacted because it is caused by things that the airline has control over,” he told reporters June 1, hours after the IT issues resurfaced.

Alghabra spokeswoman Nadine Ramadan said in an email Friday the minister’s office had been in touch with the company, which assured them it will compensate the affected passengers.

Gabor Lukacs, president of the Air Passenger Rights advocacy group, said the airline’s response “rings hollow.”

“We are hearing about too many of these ‘errors’ to believe that it was a genuine error,” he said in an email.

Lukacs suggested Air Canada’s response — including the discounted fare offer — marked “an attempt to make passengers go away and not pursue their rights.”

It was not clear whether the thousands of passengers whose flights were delayed or cancelled the day after the June 1 computer problem — Judson’s included — due to what the airline deemed “rollover effects” would receive compensation.

“They said in their official communications to passengers that it was maintenance. I do not believe it was maintenance. I think it was a direct consequence of their IP issues,” Judson said, noting that his return flight to Winnipeg landed more than three hours behind schedule.

Air Canada’s Mah said the airline would “investigate to determine the root cause of the cancellation and handle accordingly.”

At least 144 of its flights, or 27 per cent of the airline’s scheduled load, had been delayed as of late afternoon on June 2, along with 33 cancellations, according FlightAware.

In April, Alghabra laid out measures to toughen penalties and tighten loopholes around traveller compensation as part of a proposed overhaul of Canada’s passenger rights charter.

If passed as part of the budget bill, the reforms will put the onus on airlines to show a flight disruption is caused by safety concerns or reasons outside their control, with specific examples to be drawn up by the Canadian Transportation Agency as a list of exceptions around compensation.

“It will no longer be the passenger who will have to prove that he or she is entitled to compensation. It will now be the airline that will need to prove that it does not have to pay for it,” Alghabra said on April 24.

Currently, a passenger is entitled to between $125 and $1,000 in compensation for a three-hour-plus delay or a cancellation made within 14 days of the scheduled departure — unless the disruption stems from events outside the airline’s control, such as weather or a safety issue including mechanical problems. The amount varies depending on the size of the carrier and length of the delay.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2023.

 

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Trump kicks off a Pennsylvania rally by talking about Arnold Palmer’s genitalia

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LATROBE, Pa. (AP) — Donald Trump’s campaign suggested he would begin previewing his closing argument Saturday night with Election Day barely two weeks away. But the former president kicked off his rally with a detailed story about Arnold Palmer, at one point even praising the late, legendary golfer’s genitalia.

Trump was campaigning in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where Palmer was born in 1929 and learned to golf from his father, who suffered from polio and was head pro and greenskeeper at the local country club.

Politicians saluting Palmer in his hometown is nothing new. But Trump spent 12 full minutes doing so at the top of his speech and even suggested how much more fun the night would be if Palmer, who died in 2016, could join him on stage.

“Arnold Palmer was all man, and I say that in all due respect to women,” Trump said. “This is a guy that was all man.”

Then he went even further.

“When he took the showers with other pros, they came out of there. They said, ‘Oh my God. That’s unbelievable,’” Trump said with a laugh. “I had to say. We have women that are highly sophisticated here, but they used to look at Arnold as a man.”

Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters before the speech that Trump planned to preview his closing argument against Vice President Kamala Harris and “start to get into that framing.” Candidates have traditionally used their final days on the campaign trail to sum up for the electorate why they deserve to win the White House.

Trump eventually hit many of his favorite campaign themes but didn’t offer much in the way of new framing of the race or why he should win it. He instead boasted of creating strong tax policies and a strong military during his first term in office.

He slammed Harris as “crazy” and added a profanity.

“You have to tell Kamala Harris that you’ve had enough, that you just can’t take it anymore, we can’t stand you anymore, you’re a s— vice president,” Trump said to roars of the crowd. “The worst. You’re the worst vice president. Kamala, you’re fired. Get the hell out of here.”

He also criticized Harris for suggesting during her unsuccessful run for president in 2020 that she’d support a ban on hydraulic fracking, which is important to Pennsylvania’s economy and a position Harris’ campaign says she no longer supports.

Trump invited on stage members of a local steelworkers union that endorsed him. He donned a construction hat with his name on it.

He also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called him amid Israeli’s ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.

“He said, ‘It’s incredible what’s happened,’” Trump said of the Netanyahu call before moving to a criticism of President Joe Biden, saying that the Israeli prime minister “wouldn’t listen to Biden.”

Trump praised the raucous crowd, which was outside and at an airport, but also made a point of suggesting that there was more conspicuous security around him following two assassination attempts, saying, “They give you a little extra security nowadays, you notice?”

“I got more machine guns than I’ve ever seen — look at these guys,” he said referring to security. He was interrupted by cries from the crowd of “USA! USA!” before continuing, “We’ve got more guys, and every one of them is like central casting too, holy s—.”

Then he tied it back to Latrobe’s native son, adding, “They look like Arnold. Can’t look better than Arnold.”

___

Weissert reported from Washington.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Harris says Trump is ‘cruel’ as she spotlights abortion restrictions in Georgia during early voting

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ATLANTA (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday that Republican former President Donald Trump was “cruel” for how he talked about the grieving family of a Georgia mother who died after waiting 20 hours for a hospital to treat her complications from an abortion pill, as she put combating restrictions on reproductive care at the center of her pitch to voters.

At a rally in Atlanta, Harris blamed Amber Thurman’s death on Georgia’s abortion restrictions that took effect after the Supreme Court in 2022, with three Trump-appointed justices, overturned Roe v. Wade. It comes as Harris is looking to the issue to propel support to Democrats, who have pledged to restore a national right to abortion if they win the White House and enough seats in Congress.

“Donald Trump still refuses to take accountability, to take any accountability, for the pain and the suffering he has caused,” Harris said.

Thurman’ story features at the center of one of Harris’ closing campaign ads, and her family attended her Atlanta rally, with her mother holding a photo of her daughter from the audience. Harris showed a clip of Trump saying during a recent Fox News Channel town hall, when he was asked about the Thurman family joining a separate media call, “We’ll get better ratings, I promise.”

“A grieving family, a grieving family, sharing the memory of their daughter with our nation. Where is the compassion?” she asked. “What we see continually from Donald Trump is exactly what that clip shows,” Harris added. “He belittles their sorrow, making it about himself and his television ratings. It is cruel.”

Before Harris became the Democratic nominee, Ian Summer, 19, planned on voting against Trump — but he wasn’t enthusiastic about President Joe Biden. Since Harris stepped into the race “she’s brought great energy,” Summer said. Summer is worried about restrictions on abortion access under Trump. “The fact that I could have a wife in the future that may not be able to receive the care that she needs, that’s a very scary thing,” he said.

Early voting is also underway in Georgia. More than 1.2 million ballots have been cast, either in person or by mail. Democrats hope an expansive organizing effort will boost Harris against Trump in the campaign’s final weeks. Harris referenced that former President Jimmy Carter recently voted by mail days after his 100th birthday.

“If Jimmy Carter can vote early, you can too,” Harris said.

Roderick Williams, 56, brought his three daughters to Harris’ Atlanta rally. His youngest daughter was born around the time former President Barack Obama entered office, and he hopes they can witness history again by seeing Harris become the first Black woman to be president.

“It’s important for them to see that anything’s possible,” Williams said.

Harris was joined at the rally by hometown music icon Usher, drawing again on star power as she looks to excite voters to the polls. Earlier Saturday she appeared with Lizzo on Saturday in the singer’s hometown of Detroit, marking the beginning of in-person voting and lavishing the city with praise after Trump recently disparaged it.

“All the best things were made in Detroit. Coney Dogs, Faygo and Lizzo,” the singer joked to a rally crowd, pointing to herself after listing off the hot dogs and soda that the city is famous for.

She said it was time to “put some respect on Detroit’s name” noting that the city had revolutionized the auto and music industries and adding that she’d already cast her ballot for Harris since voting early was “a power move.”

Heaps of praise for the Motor City came after Trump, the former president, insulted it during a recent campaign stop. And Harris continued the theme, saying of her campaign, “Like the people of Detroit, we have grit, we have excellence, we have history.”

Arms wide open as she took the stage, Harris let the crowd see she was wearing under her blazer a “Detroit vs. Everybody” T-shirt that the owner of the business that produces them gave her during a previous stop in the city earlier in the week. She also moved around the stage during her speech with a hand-held mic, not using a teleprompter.

More than 1 million Michigan residents have already voted by mail in the Nov. 5 election, and Harris predicted that Detroit turnout for early voting would be strong.

“Who is the capital of producing records?” Harris asked when imploring the crowd to set new highs for early voting tallies. “We are going to break some records here in Detroit today.”

She slammed Trump as unstable: “Somebody just needs to watch his rallies, if you’re not really sure how to vote.”

“We’re not going to get these 17 days back. On Election Day, we don’t want to have any regrets,” the vice president said.

Lizzo also told the crowd, “Mrs. Commander-in-Chief has a nice ring to it.”

“This is the swing state of all swing states, so every last vote here counts,” the singer said. Then, referencing her song of the same title, Lizzo added, “If you ask me if America is ready for its first woman president, I only have one thing to say: “It’s about damn time!”

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement that Harris needed Lizzo “to hide the fact that Michiganders were feeling good under President Trump – real wages were higher, prices were lower, and everyone was better off.”

Talona Johnson, a product manager from Rochester, Michigan, attended Harris’ rally and said that Harris “and her team are doing the things that are required to make sure that people are informed.”

“I believe she’s telling the truth. She’s trying to help the people,” said Johnson, who said she planned to vote for Harris and saw women’s rights as her top concern.

“I don’t necessarily agree with everything that she’s put out, but she’s better than the alternative,”

In comments to reporters before the rally, Harris said she was in Detroit “to thank all the folks for the work they are doing to help organize and register people to vote, and get them out to vote today. She also called Detroit “a great American city” with “a lot of hard-working folks that have grit and ambition and deserve to be respected.”

The vice president was asked about whether the Biden administration’s full-throated support for Israel in its war with Hamas in Gaza might hurt her support in Michigan. Dearborn, near Detroit, is the largest city with an Arab majority in the nation.

“It has never been easy,” Harris said of Middle East policy. “But that doesn’t mean we give up.”

___

Associated Press writers Matt Brown in Detroit, Charlotte Kramon in Atlanta and Will Weissert and Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.



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US investigating unauthorized release of classified documents on Israel attack plans

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents that assess Israel’s plans to attack Iran, three U.S. officials told The Associated Press. A fourth U.S. official said the documents appear to be legitimate.

The documents are attributed to the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency and note that Israel continues to move military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1. They were sharable within the “Five Eyes,” which are the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The documents, which are marked top secret, were posted online to Telegram and first reported by CNN and Axios. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The investigation is also examining how the documents were obtained — including whether it was an intentional leak by a member of the U.S. intelligence community or obtained by another method, like a hack — and whether any other intelligence information was compromised, the official said. As part of that investigation, officials are working to determine who had access to the documents before they were posted, the official said.

The documents emerged as the U.S. has urged Israel to take advantage of its elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and press for a ceasefire in Gaza, and has likewise urgently cautioned Israel not to further expand military operations in the north in Lebanon and risk a wider regional war. However, Israel’s leadership has repeatedly stressed it will not let Iran’s missile attack go unanswered.

In a statement, the Pentagon said it was aware of the reports of the documents but did not have further comment.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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