A parliamentary committee voted 11-0 to summon the transport minister, and airline and rail executives, to explain the travel chaos that travellers experienced during the holiday, leaving many stranded.. Via RailCourtesy travelweek.ca .On Monday, the House of Commons transport committee met and unanimously agreed on a witness list to discuss the holiday travel chaos..READ MORE WINGS CLIPPED: Sunwing cancels all flights in Saskatchewan.The list includes Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, Sunwing, Air Canada, West Jet, VIA Rail, airport authorities, passenger rights advocates, and passengers..Significant winter storms impacted Western and Eastern Canada as they moved across the country, causing dozens of flights to be cancelled..Sunwing left many Canadian travellers trapped in Mexico without enough planes or pilots to fly travellers back to Canada..READ MORE Moe calls on 'irresponsible' Sunwing to bring vacationers home.A tree on the rail tracks left VIA Rail passengers stuck on the tracks..Conservative MP Mark Strahl said he wants to hear from Alghabra, as the travel system is under his authority..“We in the Conservative Party are tired of hearing Liberal ministers say that things are unacceptable when they have the power to make change. And that’s what we are wanting to get out of this meeting here today,” said Strahl..Alghabra said the government is interested in strengthening the passenger bill of rights and looks forward to speaking with the committee..NDP MP Taylor Bachrach said the passenger bill of rights did not fix the travel industry problems and more needs to be done to fix it..“We need to address the larger context as well and that context is the fact that we have a failed system in Canada for dealing with passenger rights,” said Bachrach..Under Canadian law, passengers who experienced long delays and cancellations are to be offered refunds or other compensation depending on the reason for the delay. .The Canadian Transportation Agency has over 30,000 travellers complaints who were refused refunds, as airlines “pushed back” against the rules..READ MORE Class action lawsuit against Sunwing for affected travellers.Bachrach wants Canada to use the tougher European model..“We have a clear roadmap for making changes to the legislation and the regulations that would allow us to catch up with the example set by the European Union,” said Bachrach..Liberal MP Annie Koutrakis said the government is disappointed and frustrated with the travel industry..“Canadians have had a rough few years going through the pandemic. Many were looking forward to a break in the holidays and a return to normalcy. I’m very disappointed that many had their plans altered or ruined,” said Koutrakis..“This committee has a role to play in educating the public about what happened, about holding the relevant organizations accountable, and in developing recommendations on how to avoid this from happening again.”.On Thursday, the committee’s first witnesses will appear.
