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Sébastien Lemire

Bloc Québécois on Government Orders

Replying to Ryan Turnbull (Liberal)
“Madam Speaker, let me start by expressing my respect for the member. Having served on committee with him for a number of years, I can say that we have always had good debates in good faith, and today is another chance to do that. I disagree strongly with the member’s statements in the House. The government is moving forward with changes to the air passenger rights regulations for the benefit of air travel passengers and is looking to resolve the backlog of complaints, which is in the order of 96,000 or 97,000 unresolved complaints. The minister would be held accountable for that. Essentially, the minister is seeking the authority to be accountable for resolving those complaints in short order by using alternative dispute resolution firms. The minister would consult on designating those firms, put in place regulations to regulate those firms and hold air carriers and airlines accountable for paying compensation to air passengers who have not been compensated and have been waiting a long time. That is exactly what the legislation tries to do. It would also increase monetary penalties.”

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Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague’s skill as a debater. I like the tone he is setting for our exchanges. He wants them to be constructive. We think that being constructive in this context means deleting division 17 of part 4 and going back to the drawing board. I would like to point out that there is an advantage involved. The minister is taking away powers from the Canadian Transportation Agency and granting them to himself, but he is then transferring them to the governor in council and, ultimately, straight to the private sector. In this context, that could create a bias. There is also the notion of confidentiality. The mandatory confidentiality requirements regarding air travel complaints are being removed. The maximum administrative penalty payable by corporations for certain violations of the Canada Transportation Act or its regulations is also being increased. Ultimately, if the balance of power is upset, it is the passenger or consumer who is likely to pay the price. It is true that the problem was examined and solutions were proposed, but they are not the right solutions. That is why the government needs to go back to the drawing board. We are offering to help.