The elected representatives of the Standing Committee on Transport in the House of Commons unanimously approved a motion to this effect at an urgently convened meeting on Monday.
Among those summoned are representatives from Sunwing, WestJet and Air Canada. Also on the witness list are officials from VIA Rail and the Canadian Transportation Agency.
Minister Alghabra had previously indicated on Monday that he was prepared to make himself available to answer questions from members of that Commons committee.
Omar Alghabra, Federal Transport Minister
Photo: The Canadian Press/DARRYL DYCK
The elected officials sitting there have agreed to meet on Thursday to begin their scrutiny at a special session. They also agreed to continue their study thereafter, but to integrate it with the work already started on air passenger protection regulations, commonly known as the Passenger Charter.
Flights for thousands of Canadians have been canceled or delayed because of poor weather, while hundreds more passengers are stranded in Mexico after the airline and tour operator Sunwing suspended return trips.
The company has since apologized, saying the cancellations were due to winter storms that swept across the country ahead of Christmas Day.
Sunwing also suspended flights from Saskatchewan through early February due to extenuating circumstances, sparking anger from political leaders and passengers.
The opposition wants more
During Monday’s Transport Committee meeting, several elected officials debated the desired length of Minister Alghabra’s possible testimony.
Curator Luc Berthold argued that one hour was not enough for him. An hour meeting with the minister is not enough for us, he argued.
“I think Canadians who have traveled and waited 12 or 18 hours at least deserve to have their transport minister [qui réponde] to questions from all parties. »
– A quote from Luc Berthold, Conservative MP
Bloc Québécois MNA Julie Vignola went further by saying that a two-hour period would be reasonable to ensure questions of interest to consumers can be addressed to the minister.
I believe the public deserves two hours of answers, she said.
Julie Vignola, Bloc Québécois MP for Beauport-Limoilou
Photo: Radio Canada
The liberal Annie Koutrakis seemed to express her reluctance, pointing out that every minister’s schedule is overloaded.
She specifically stressed that, as Minister Alghabra had said, she considered the situation faced by many travelers to be “unacceptable”.
“Canadians deserve better and I believe this committee has a role to play in educating the public about what happened, holding the organizations involved accountable and developing recommendations on how to prevent this from happening again. »
– A quote from Annie Koutrakis, Liberal MP
New Democrat Taylor Bachrach said he believes the minister needs to provide answers about when he intervened and what actions he took. He also wants the committee to shed light on the circumstances that prompted the airlines to phase out [les choses] spoil themselves so much and can no longer provide customer service worthy of the name.
The motion passed on Monday does not set a time limit for Mr Alghabra to testify. The eleven MPs called to vote – excluding the chair of the committee – voted in favour, including the elected Liberals.