Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach calls for automatic compensation when flights are delayed

Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach speaking at a special
session of the Transport Committee today in Ottawa

With a special session of the Transport Committee meeting today in Ottawa, to address the recent transportation chaos of the holiday period, the New Democratic Party has taken opportunity of the moment to call for compensation for Canadians when their flights are delayed.

The NDP initiative was introduced this morning by Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach, how has been speaking often to the issue sine the December issues became the subject of much anger from travellers.

“When your fight is delayed, your compensation shouldn’t be. The fact Canadians are having to wait over 18 months for their complaints to be heard shows the Liberal government’s current approach is deeply flawed.

Right now, people who’ve already endured the stress caused by delays and cancelled flights have to jump through endless hoops to be compensated, and the airlines are making sure it can take months or even years. 

When airlines’ flight schedules get snarled, people miss weddings, funerals and vacations they’ve been saving up for. Some are left stranded. The difficulty of a delayed or cancelled flight shouldn’t be followed by the nightmare of fighting for compensation.”

The full statement from the MP, which you can review here, calls for a suite of changes to air passenger protections, including the demand for automatic compensation.

The NDP call comes as the holiday issues in aviation and rail transport gain a wide overview through the Committee session that is underway today.

You can check in through the day to see how those discussions are going from this link to the committee session. click on the watch live box to see who's up on the speakers list.

Among those who participated today was a Toronto area MP Francesco Sorbara, a former Prince Rupert resident who is now a Liberal MP for Vaughn-Woodbridge.

Toronto area MP Francesco Sorbara ( a once upon a time Prince Rupert resident)
asks a question at todays Transport committee session

The session today goes through the afternoon, the full streamcast of the day of committee proceedings will also be archived for viewing.

How some of the travel chaos impacted on residents of the Northwest can be reviewed from our Air Transportation archive.

More notes on the House of Commons can be explored here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.