Traveler Protection | Ethical concerns in the air

The proximity of the Canadian Transportation Agency to Ottawa still singled out

Julien Arsenault
The Press

In apparent violation of its code of ethics, the agency responsible for protecting travelers involved the chief of staff of the federal Minister of Transport in its reflection on the reimbursement of passengers in March 2020, raising new concerns about its independence.

However, the code of ethics of the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) – a quasi-judicial tribunal – prohibits this kind of practice, underline experts and defenders of the rights of travelers.

The exchanges took place days before the Agency’s March 25, 2020 release of controversial travel credits, leaked correspondence following a Federal Court of Appeals order reveals.

“This issue was discussed between the President [de l’OTC]the Deputy Minister and the Minister’s Chief of Staff […] over the weekend,” reads an email from Caitlin Hurcomb, CTA, to Vincent Millette, Transport Canada, dated March 23, 2020.

M^me Hurcomb also confirmed to him that the Agency was about to announce that travel credits offered by airlines would be considered an acceptable form of compensation.

“This statement indicates what the OTC considers appropriate in this situation; an approach that would ensure that passengers are not completely deprived while taking into account the concerns of airlines, ”she writes.

The OTC is responsible for the application of the Air Passenger Protection Regulationswhich among other things provides for refunds in the event of flight cancellations.

Marc Garneau was the Minister of Transport in March 2020. The name of his chief of staff is not mentioned in the emails. On his LinkedIn profile, Marc Roy indicates that he held this position from June 2018 to February 2021. He did not respond to The Press.

After canceling thousands of flights at the start of the pandemic, airlines had opted for travel credits rather than refunding travelers – an approach strongly criticized by politicians and consumers.

By declaring on March 25, 2020, that travel credits were a “reasonable” approach to affected passengers, the CTA sparked an avalanche of complaints.

Independent, in principle

According to article 39 of the Agency’s code of conduct, its members must refrain from communicating with political actors or officials of other federal departments and agencies, provincial or foreign governments or international organizations concerning a matter that is, was or could be brought before the agency.

“It’s very clear,” says Richard Leblanc, a specialist in governance, law and ethics at York University in Toronto. The reason is to preserve the integrity of the OTC and avoid conflicts of interest. The Office should explain itself. »

This is not the first time that the regulator has been singled out, as several publicly released emails have reported close correspondence between the agency, the airline industry and federal officials.

Bloc transportation critic Xavier Barsalou-Duval was also one of two vice-chairs of a Commons committee that questioned the role of the CTA in a report released last June.

The participation of Mr. Garneau’s chief of staff in discussions is “problematic”, he believes.

“In a trial where the Minister of Justice calls the judge to tell him what position to take, that would cause a scandal”, illustrates Mr. Barsalou-Duval. With OTC, the same principle should apply.

For Gabor Lukacs, founder of Travellers’ Rights, these correspondences are another example of the need to independently investigate the role of the Agency.

“The aim of all these steps was to circumvent the rules in force,” he laments.

Mr. Lukacs criticizes Mr. Garneau for “not having told the truth” by declaring, on May 28, 2020, before the Special Committee on the Pandemic, that “the Canadian Transportation Agency is a quasi-judicial body independent of Transport Canada and the Canadian government”.

At Option consommateurs, lawyer Sylvie De Bellefeuille believes that the Office lacks transparency and that consumers seem “quite far behind” in the priorities.

“Travel credits were not a solution that suited everyone,” she says. The OTC listened to carriers’ requests. We also sent a letter to the minister, but we did not get a response. »

In the evening, Tuesday, the Office indicated that it did not want to comment on the content disclosed to the Federal Court of Appeal since the case is still pending. The body added that its message on travel credits in March 2020 “was not a court decision”, but an exit to prevent the many passengers affected by the canceled flights from “receiving nothing”.

For its part, Transport Canada said it plays an advisory role to the minister. In this context, it is “possible” that officials “must request factual information” from the CTA, wrote a spokesperson for Transport Canada, Simon Rivet. Although the Office is “autonomous”, it “reports to Parliament on its operations through the Minister of Transport”, added Mr. Rivet.