Hollywood star Holly Robinson Peete 'livid' after sons not allowed to board Air Canada flight at YVR - CBC.ca | Canada News Media
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Hollywood star Holly Robinson Peete 'livid' after sons not allowed to board Air Canada flight at YVR – CBC.ca

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Actor Holly Robinson Peete says she feels disrespected by Air Canada after her two sons were barred from boarding a flight at Vancouver airport, with a ticket agent telling them they could not board without presenting the credit card used to pay for their tickets.

The incident happened on Monday, Oct. 4, while Peete was in Mission, B.C., shooting the movie Our Christmas Journey. Peete is familiar with the province, having shot 21 Jump Street in Vancouver, and says she considers B.C. her “second home.”

Her two sons, 19-year-old Robinson and 16-year-old Roman, were visiting her for the weekend and were planning to board an evening flight back to Los Angeles. They both had one-way business-class seats, something Peete says she had booked numerous times before.

But when the two boys got to the Air Canada ticket counter at Vancouver International Airport, they were told they needed to present the credit card used to purchase the tickets in order to board. The boys called their parents, who attempted to speak to the ticket agent and convince them of their identity.

“They said it was ‘policy’ and the card was flagged. You must verify the card. You’re not flying today,” Peete told CBC News.

“And then at one point [the ticket agent] turned his back on them and walked away. Left them at the ticket counter with no other ticketing agents there.”

Peete says the Air Canada agent refused to speak with her to verify her identity, and the boys missed their flight.

Her sons ended up spending the night at a nearby hotel. The next morning, after Peete rebooked their flights, her sons were able to board with no problem. They were not asked to present the credit card.

“The elephant in the room is, you know, yeah, these are two Black boys travelling alone,” Peete said. 

“I don’t want to think that there’s any kind of profiling going on, but I cannot understand why they refused to speak to the parents.”

Airline says situation due to security checks

According to Air Canada, the situation was “unfortunate” and arose from regular credit card security practices.

“Air Canada has in place security checks to validate purchases made online outside Canada for last minute travel,” a spokesperson told CBC News. 

“We are in direct contact with the customer to discuss the matter … In this case, the customers were delayed and travelled on the next flight.”

Peete disputes the wording of their statement, saying no one from Air Canada reached out to her directly. She only received concessions once she took the initiative and called them.

Air Canada subsequently offered to compensate her for the hotel stay which she and her husband, former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete, paid for.

“My assistant told me that the customer service person said, ‘Well, of course, they’re going to be flagged – it’s two boys sitting in business class on a one-way ticket,” Peete said.

“That really bothered me because that indicated that, you know, well, they didn’t look like they belonged there. … As a mom of Black boys, I am looking at this situation and I don’t like it. It doesn’t pass the smell test for me.”

Peete says she wants someone “higher up” at Air Canada to speak to her, and also a public statement from the airline explaining the situation.

CBC News reached out to Air Canada to find out how often travellers are flagged for fraud, but did not receive an answer in time for publication.

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Trump snaps at reporter when asked about abortion: ‘Stop talking about it’

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PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump is refusing to say how he voted on Florida’s abortion measure — and getting testy about it.

The former president was asked twice after casting his ballot in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday about a question that the state’s voters are considering. If approved, it would prevent state lawmakers from passing any law that penalizes, prohibits, delays or restricts abortion until fetal viability — which doctors say is sometime after 21 weeks.

If it’s rejected, the state’s restrictive six-week abortion law would stand.

The first time he was asked, Trump avoided answering. He said instead of the issue that he did “a great job bringing it back to the states.” That was a reference to the former president having appointed three conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who helped overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 2022.

Pressed a second time, Trump snapped at a reporter, saying “you should stop talking about it.”

Trump had previously indicated that he would back the measure — but then changed his mind and said he would vote against it.

In August, Trump said he thought Florida’s ban was a mistake, saying on Fox News Channel, “I think six weeks, you need more time.” But then he said, “at the same time, the Democrats are radical” while repeating false claims he has frequently made about late-term abortions.

In addition to Florida, voters in eight other states are deciding whether their state constitutions should guarantee a right to abortion, weighing ballot measures that are expected to spur turnout for a range of crucial races.

Passing certain amendments in Arizona, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota likely would lead to undoing bans or restrictions that currently block varying levels of abortion access to more than 7 million women of childbearing age who live in those states.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Beyoncé channels Pamela Anderson in ‘Baywatch’ for Halloween video asking viewers to vote

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NEW YORK (AP) — In a new video posted early Election Day, Beyoncé channels Pamela Anderson in the television program “Baywatch” – red one-piece swimsuit and all – and asks viewers to vote.

In the two-and-a-half-minute clip, set to most of “Bodyguard,” a four-minute cut from her 2024 country album “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé cosplays as Anderson’s character before concluding with a simple message, written in white text: “Happy Beylloween,” followed by “Vote.”

At a rally for Donald Trump in Pittsburgh on Monday night, the former president spoke dismissively about Beyoncé’s appearance at a Kamala Harris rally in Houston in October, drawing boos for the megastar from his supporters.

“Beyoncé would come in. Everyone’s expecting a couple of songs. There were no songs. There was no happiness,” Trump said.

She did not perform — unlike in 2016, when she performed at a presidential campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland – but she endorsed Harris and gave a moving speech, initially joined onstage by her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland.

“I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said.

“A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided,” she said at the rally in Houston, her hometown.

“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations,” she continued. “We must vote, and we need you.”

The Harris campaign has taken on Beyonce’s track “Freedom,” a cut from her landmark 2016 album “Lemonade,” as its anthem.

Harris used the song in July during her first official public appearance as a presidential candidate at her campaign headquarters in Delaware. That same month, Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, publicly endorsed Harris for president.

Beyoncé gave permission to Harris to use the song, a campaign official who was granted anonymity to discuss private campaign operations confirmed to The Associated Press.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Party leaders pay tribute following death of retired senator Murray Sinclair |

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May pay tribute to the life of Murray Sinclair, former judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Sinclair died November 4, 2024 at the age of 73. (Nov. 4, 2024)



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