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Blaine Calkins

Conservative on Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 2 2026-11-03

Replying to Jean-Denis Garon (Bloc Québécois)

“Mr. Speaker, tens of thousands of air passengers whose rights have been violated have filed complaints and are waiting for them to be processed. The government’s response is to outsource the process to entities that will be selected according to criteria that are nowhere to be found in the legislation. When an airline owes compensation following the resolution of a complaint and interest has accrued on that amount, passengers may face significant challenges in recovering the money owed to them. Furthermore, the companies that handle those complaints may ultimately be chosen, directly or indirectly, by the airlines themselves. The Bloc Québécois tabled amendments to correct these shortcomings in the bill, but the government rejected them all in committee. In my colleague’s opinion, what are the government’s reasons for relentlessly targeting air passengers this way?”

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Mr. Speaker, as somebody who spends an inordinate amount of time in airports and dealing with our Canadian airlines, I can understand and appreciate the frustration. I am sure all my colleagues of the House generally have those same levels of frustration. The government has announced that it is going to be privatizing some of our airports. That is an interesting concept and an interesting idea. I do not know where this is going to go. I have some ideas about whether or not it is a good idea. The reality is that Transport Canada has huge bills. Canadians have some of the highest rates of landing fees and taxes to pay in order to move goods and services around this country. We have one of the largest geopolitical land masses. We need to reduce costs and red tape wherever possible and make it so that airlines can operate in a true free market environment and give the best solutions possible to the—