Liberals have been giving Canadians’ hard-earned tax dollars to foreign airlines during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been devasting to domestic carriers..A dozen foreign airlines, including three Chinese state-owned carriers, have received payments under the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program – notwithstanding that many of those same companies concurrently received bailout packages from their own governments..The CEWS searchable database is operated by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). A search of the CEWS database by Globe and Mail found 12 foreign airlines have received COVID-Bucks through the program..These included Cathay Pacific, United Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Royal Jordanian, Lufthansa, KLM, El Al, Ethiopian Airlines and IndiGo Airlines – and three Chinese state-owned airlines; China Southern, Beijing Capital and Hainan..To date the CEWS program has processed 1,969,530 claims and paid out approximately $55.42 billion tax dollars..The Western Standard reported a related story on December 22 showing the Bank of China – with over US$3 trillion in assets as of 2019 – while being supported by Canadian taxpayers..Many of the beneficiary airlines have also received generous financial aid from their own governments – such as Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, and United Airlines, which landed $5-billion in bailouts, reported the Globe..Even more puzzling, Cathay Pacific closed its Vancouver office in March just before the pandemic lockdowns began – so it is unclear how it qualified for the wage subsidy..“This is unbelievable,” Unifor president Jerry Dias told the Globe..“You have Canada creating an even bigger economic disadvantage for Canadian airlines by subsidizing their workers in Canada when their parent companies are also giving them billions of dollars.”.WestJet president and chief executive officer Ed Sims said: “Our government is putting out a welcome mat for international airlines while punishing Canadian airlines and their workers,”.In addition to wage subsidies, Canada has offered airlines and other large employers loans at commercial rates. The aviation industry has received airport rent deferrals, and breaks on some fees..The Canadian airlines and travel industries now want sector-specific aid, as their global rivals are receiving state aid at home in the form of cash grants, loans or equity stakes..According to IATA, the U.S. has provided US$35.7-billion in relief to its carriers, while Germany has offered US$13.6-billion, of which Lufthansa received US$10-billion. France’s airline package totaled US$7.6-billion, and the United Kingdom offered US$3.3-billion..Ken Grafton is the Western Standards Ottawa Bureau Chief. He can be reached at kgrafton@westernstandardonline.com
