Air passenger asked to keep complaint outcome quiet, rights group claims

A user authorities statement says nan Canadian Transportation Agency is pressuring passengers to enactment silent astir its rulings connected their complaints — a move nan country’s hose regulator says falls squarely wrong its instruction nether nan law.

The agency has asked astatine slightest 1 complainant who posted a determination connected nan Air Passenger Rights’ Facebook page to delete their post, said Gabor Lukacs, president of nan defense group.

“The determination was posted successful nan group by 1 of nan passengers progressive successful nan decision, who has since removed nan station astatine our request,” sounds an email to Lukacs from an agency head and posted online.

The connection asks Lukacs for his group’s “collaboration successful preventing early nationalist sharing of confidential information.”

Lukacs called nan move “unconstitutional,” saying it limits free expression.

“You cannot ideate a mini claims tribunal making a determination confidential,” he said. “You spell and publication immoderate you want.”

Passengers should beryllium allowed to stock nan result of cases brought earlier title solution officers astatine nan regulator, Lukacs argued. The rulings could pass different travellers seeking to record for compensation aliases refunds from an hose — including customers who were connected nan aforesaid formation — among different complaints.

Otherwise, nan adjudication process “becomes a benignant of achromatic hole” that insulates decision-makers from scrutiny and accountability, he said.

“Once mediation turns into binding decision-making, that cannot beryllium kept confidential unless location are immoderate very, very important issues for illustration protecting victims successful intersexual battle cases.”

However, national authorities says otherwise. Recent amendments to nan Canada Transportation Act authorities that nan regulator tin “decide to support confidential immoderate portion of an order” — isolated from for respective cardinal parts of nan ruling, specified arsenic nan formation number, day and whether a hold was wrong nan carrier’s power — astatine nan petition of nan complainant aliases nan airline.

In an email, proscription agency spokesperson Jadrino Huot pointed to nan authorities and emphasized that rulings by title solution officers “must not beryllium published” unless each parties work together to it.

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The rumor hinges mostly connected nan constitutionality of nan amendments themselves. Paul Daly, chair successful administrative rule and governance astatine nan University of Ottawa, based on that regular non-publication of decisions by quasi-judicial bodies breaches principles of unfastened justness enshrined successful nan Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“These provisions would create mechanisms for binding mediation and adjudication that would run mostly successful secret,” he said successful a blog station successful May 2023, soon earlier nan amendments took effect.

“Decision-making would beryllium done successful nan shadows, connected nan ground of past decisions and guidelines that person only seen nan ray of time to nan grade nan agency chooses. Open justness should beryllium nan default rule but it does not person overmuch acquisition successful (this bill).”

Lukacs besides claims that nan proscription agency’s instruction does not widen to enforcement of nan authorities against individuals, arsenic opposed to airlines.

The regulator’s actions travel arsenic its title backlog sits astatine grounds highs topping 72,000. It is apt to turn successful nan short word aft much than 100,000 WestJet customers saw their flights cancelled owed to a mechanics onslaught complete nan Canada Day agelong weekend.