Newly revealed correspondence between the federal government and the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) at the start of the pandemic is raising questions around the regulator’s independence.
Unredacted emails show senior officials spoke with the agency’s top brass about how airlines could compensate passengers for cancelled trips because of COVID-19.
Section 39 of the CTA’s code of conduct says that “members shall not communicate with political actors or officials of other federal departments and agencies … regarding a matter that is, was, or could be before the agency.”
However, the emails indicate that then-transport minister Marc Garneau’s chief of staff spoke with the agency’s chairman and the department’s top bureaucrat in March 2020 about an upcoming CTA statement that airlines could issue flight credits rather than refunds for cancelled trips.
The correspondence also shows a senior civil servant at Transport Canada reached out to the arm’s-length agency to discuss concerns brought up by Air Transat about having to reimburse customers for flights it cancelled.
The CTA’s statement in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic that vouchers rather than refunds constitute a “reasonable approach” toward out-of-pocket passengers sparked public backlash and thousands of complaints to the transportation agency.
Asked about the issue in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said the Liberal government “was there to help Canadians with their refunds” as well as struggling airlines and aviation workers.
NDP transport critic Taylor Bachrach says the emails and phone call mark a “troubling” example of government “doing the bidding of the big airlines” rather than standing up for customers.
Gabor Lukacs, president of advocacy group Air Passenger Rights, says the behind-the-scenes communication shows how officials crossed “some red lines.”
The transportation agency falls under the purview of Transport Canada, and regular communication between them to keep the minister briefed on relevant matters is an established practice, a spokesman for the department said.
“Such discussions do not impact or hinder in any way CTA’s independence or arm’s length relationship with Transport Canada. For example, it would not be uncommon for the agency to inform the department of an upcoming announcement or for the department to ask factual questions about announcements to be in a position to inform the minister,” Simon Rivet said in an email Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2022
