National
Passengers, advocates cry foul on Air Canada compensation
MONTREAL — Passengers and advocates say Air Canada is giving them the runaround on refunds, compensation and reasons cited for flight delays and cancellations — including a case of harsh weather cited two weeks before it struck.
Despite thousands of scrapped flights and late arrivals, customers are struggling to file successful complaints or learn the nuances of complex regulations amid the overwhelming surge in summer travel.
The country’s largest carrier informed some passengers their flight to Lisbon would be delayed due to “bad weather,” 12 days before it was even slated to leave Montreal on July 17.
Another traveller recently received a $60 “eCoupon” due to a days-long baggage delay rather than the direct refund she’s entitled to under both federal rules and Air Canada’s passenger-carrier contract.
“It’d be great if I could get that money back rather than a coupon. Especially since I am still without my bag and fronting interim expenses,” said Air Canada Rouge passenger Leanna Durdle.
On Tuesday the airline cancelled a flight from Nashville to Toronto citing a “technical issue.” But data on tracking service Flightradar24 shows the same plane that was scheduled to fly into Nashville for the trip instead took off for Boston an hour after the original departure time, despite the stated mechanical problem.
Liam Walshe, a paralegal who advocates for consumer protection, called the reasons cited “questionable” and “suspect.” Mechanical malfunctions do not qualify as within the carrier’s control and thus exempt it from having to compensate customers, he noted.
“I was pretty shocked with what I was seeing,” he said.
“How would they say it’s for maintenance and then an hour later the aircraft flies to Boston instead? Why wouldn’t they just delay the Nashville flight slightly?”
Walshe said that taken together, the myriad instances of “technical” or “maintenance” issues along with travel vouchers rather than reimbursement create an appearance of trying to avoid “having to pay out.”
“People have been submitting claims and they’ve been getting denied,” he said. “You’ll see all kinds of people saying that there’s inconsistent reasons.”
Air Canada said in an email the weather explanation on the Lisbon flight was “an incorrect notification” that has since been revised.
“Air Canada fully appreciates the disappointment and inconvenience schedule changes cause customers, and does its utmost to mitigate these regrettable situations,” the airline said in a statement.
It notes travellers can request a refund in the original form of payment, and says it will pay additional compensation where “due” under the passenger rights charter.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2022.
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Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press
The rising cost of living has ramped up pressure on parents, who say it’s tougher than ever to save for their children’s post-secondary education, a new survey found. Graduates are silhouetted as they line up for a convocation ceremony at Simon Fraser University, in Burnaby, B.C., on Friday, May 6, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
By Christopher Reynolds in Montreal
Parents are finding it tougher than ever to save for their children’s post-secondary education as the rising cost of living ramps up financial pressures.
But the mainstays of post-secondary saving — RESPs, especially — remain key tools, as do clear goals and plenty of planning.
Julie Petrera, a senior strategist for client needs at Edward Jones, said the first step is getting a handle on cost estimates, which can range from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the type and length of schooling and whether the child is leaving home.
Other considerations include whether family members, such as a grandparent or the child themself, will contribute and where education ranks on parents’ list of savings priorities.
“Are they paying for post-secondary education and saving for their own retirement and funding other expenses, like renovations and vacations?” Petrera asked.
According to an online survey of 1,000 parents with at least one child under 18 by Embark, a company specializing in education savings, some 73 per cent of parents said saving for college and university has been harder recently.
The survey also found just over half of respondents said they would go into debt to pay for their child’s education.
The Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) offers a tax-deferred investment account that has been used by millions. More than 481,000 students withdrew funds from an RESP in 2021, according to Employment and Social Development Canada.
Ottawa matches 20 per cent on the first $2,500 put toward an RESP each year, via the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG), for a total of $500 per year, with higher rates available to lower income families. The lifetime maximum grant amount is capped at $7,200, while total contributions to RESP accounts are limited to $50,000 per beneficiary.
Low income families may also be eligible for the Canadian Learning Bond, which does not require RESP contributions.
RESP beneficiaries in British Columbia may be eligible for an additional one‑time $1,200 grant, while those in Quebec can enjoy a refundable tax credit with a lifetime maximum of $3,600.
“The RESP is great. It is designed to help with affordability,” Petrera said. “But on the flip side there are some restrictions on these plans … on who can withdraw the funds, when they can withdraw them and why.”
RESPs can comprise a major part of a family’s education funding, but should not be viewed as a “standalone” plan, Petrera said. Non-registered investment accounts offer a supplementary option.
“There are no grants associated, they are fully taxable, but they have no restrictions. You can put money in up to any amount and withdraw at any time for any reason,” she said.
A tax-free savings account provides another vehicle. Students themselves can’t open one until they reach 18, but parents or grandparents can use their accounts to help save.
“My advice on that would be to work with an adviser or work with a professional that understands the pros and cons and the ins and outs of all of these plans to determine what is the best mix to maximize what the client’s objective is,” Petrera said.
Automatic contributions toward a plan are a simple, effective way to build a nest egg.
“We think that if each pair can make 50 bucks a month (per person) of contributions, they’ll get $37,000 by the time their kids hit 18 and go to post-secondary school,” Embark CEO Andrew Lo said.
He stressed that parents should educate themselves about education. One in three polled by the company did “not know enough to even guess” how much post-secondary schooling costs.
Erika Shaker, director of the national office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said costs are going up and everything’s getting more expensive.
She pointed to a shift in education funding from Ottawa a couple decades ago that prompted most provinces to download more of the cost onto students or, in the case of Quebec, “two-tiering” the price between in-province and out-of-province pupils.
The labyrinth of funding programs and rules sometimes acts as more of a barrier than a relief, she added.
“Student assistance programs are a patchwork, they’re messy, they’re opaque. They’re actually quite difficult to navigate and they can change midway through a degree,” Shaker said.
“We have gone to a user-pay model that disproportionately impacts — negatively — students who have to borrow, unfortunately, to pay for post-secondary education.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2023.
Fredericton
New Brunswick students under the age of 16 who identify as trans and non-binary won’t be able to officially change their names or pronouns in school without parental consent.
Education Minister Bill Hogan made the announcement today as he unveiled his government’s highly anticipated reform to the province’s policy on sexual orientation in schools, known as Policy 713.
Policy 713, which was introduced in 2020, establishes minimum standards for schools to ensure a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for LGBTQ students.
The new policy says the preferred first names and pronouns of students aged 16 and older will be used consistently in ways that the students request.
Hogan says the policy will also ensure that private, universal changing rooms and bathrooms will be available in all schools.
He says the changes, which come into effect July 1, were the product of consultations with hundreds of parents, families, students and advocacy groups.
The province’s decision to review Policy 713 has faced intense scrutiny, with former education minister Dominic Cardy accusing Premier Blaine Higgs of wanting to gut sex education.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2023.
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