Two hours after WestJet announced on Wednesday that it was curtailing its flights to and from Atlantic Canada, an email went out to all MPs and senators from Liberal MP Chris Bittle, parliamentary secretary to Transport Minister Marc Garneau.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on all aspects of the Canadian economy, but few industries have been more negatively impacted than the air sector,” Bittle wrote in a letter first obtained by Radio-Canada.
“Many of you have reached out to us to share your thoughts about the current impact of COVID-19 on the air sector. At this stage, we would like to hear from all parliamentarians [on] what is required to support a robust air sector in Canada.”
Last month’s throne speech promised “further support for industries that have been the hardest hit, including travel,” and the government’s consultations on support for the air sector apparently were due to start this week.
While demands for government aid to the air travel sector have been building for months, WestJet’s regional retreat will drive those demands to a new level.
For the federal government, the case for doing something to prop up airlines and airports might be stronger than the case for doing nothing. But even if the government wants — or needs — to intervene, it still has to work out a way to do so that it can defend politically.
Bubble trouble
P.E.I. Premier Dennis King was among those calling on the federal government to take action on Wednesday. But it’s the region’s own “Atlantic bubble” pandemic policy — which imposes registration requirements on travellers from outside of Atlantic Canada and compels them to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival in the region — that has caused the demand for flights in and out of the region to crater.
The Liberals probably don’t want to be blamed if reductions in air service across the country become permanent. And sure enough, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs told CBC’s Power & Politics that he came away from a conversation with Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc on Wednesday with the impression that “something’s going to happen” for the ailing industry.
Premiers are expressing concern after WestJet announced it would shut down most of its operations in Atlantic Canada. 9:52
The federal response to the pandemic has not ignored the country’s largest companies. All businesses have been able to access the federal wage subsidy. In May, the Liberals rolled out a targeted loan program known as the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF).
WestJet has made use of the wage subsidy; Richard Bartrem, VP of marketing communications at WestJet, called it “terrifically helpful.” WestJet has not sought assistance through the LEEFF program.
“The conditions that were placed [on] it just made it unwieldy in terms of our ability to recover from the pandemic,” Bartrem said.
Critics have claimed LEEFF was rolled out too late and offers loans at terms less generous than what is available in the private sector. (When it was introduced, then-finance minister Bill Morneau called the program an option of “last resort” — so it might have been designed to not be popular.)
That’s the risk a government takes whenever it offers help to specific firms or industries — even in the midst of a global economic crisis.
The nationalization route
Transport Minister Marc Garneau has had to fend off questions already about compelling airlines to refund customers for flights that were cancelled by the pandemic.
At the time, Garneau’s stated reason for not forcing airlines to offer refunds seemed practical. Some struggling airlines might have collapsed completely if they were forced to pay back that money, he said. But if (or when) the federal government offers airlines support, the political conflict over refunds will come roaring back.
When Chrystia Freeland became finance minister in August, the National Airlines Council of Canada, which represents major carriers, wrote to her to outline a request for financial support in the form of “loans, loan guarantees or direct assistance.” Airline unions have asked for $7 billion in federal loans.
Other countries have moved already to rescue their national carriers — in some cases through outright nationalization. The German government, for instance, now owns 20 per cent of Lufthansa. In Canada, any nationalization presumably would have to involve both Air Canada and WestJet.
LEEFF’s limitations notwithstanding, the program’s design suggests the government knew that it would have to justify and defend any effort to bail out a major corporate entity. LEEFF loan recipients have to abide by conditions that include restrictions on executive compensation and a requirement for climate-risk disclosure. Perhaps new conditions would help make loans for airlines more politically acceptable.
The political downside to bailouts
But even if the Trudeau government changed the terms of LEEFF to make it more industry-friendly, it still could be left to explain why the airline industry — or any other group of wounded firms — deserves special attention right now.
The Liberals have avoided taking a sector-specific approach to pandemic relief to date. If they start providing sector-specific assistance now, the floodgates will open — other sectors will demand the same assistance, or at least call on the Liberals to explain where they’re drawing the line and why.
The government’s throne speech specifically mentioned one avenue for assistance: supporting regional routes for airlines. “It is essential that Canadians have access to reliable and affordable regional air services,” the speech said. “This is an issue of equity, of jobs, and of economic development.”
That’s a justification for targeted support. Would that be enough?
There’s also the question of timing. As Premier Higgs acknowledged in his interview with Power & Politics, financial support will be of limited use as long as large numbers of people are uncomfortable with the idea of flying — and have nowhere to go.
Free-market disciples might turn their noses up at all of this, but the Trudeau government probably doesn’t see this as the right moment to insist on laissez-faire economics. And perhaps the other federal parties will be reluctant to make the case for doing nothing as well.
For Trudeau, the challenge is to come up with an approach that makes things better — without making his government’s political burden significantly heavier.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
