麻豆影视

Skip to main content

'Unacceptable': Committee chair says Sunwing, Via Rail must answer for holiday mess

Share
OTTAWA -

The chair of the House of Commons transport committee on Tuesday called for Sunwing Airlines and Via Rail to publicly explain what caused the travel nightmare that plagued thousands of Canadians over the holidays.

Liberal member of Parliament Peter Schiefke said in a tweet that he plans to convene a committee meeting and call for representatives from both companies to appear as witnesses.

Schiefke said Canadians deserve answers for "unacceptable delays and cancellations" over the holiday season.

"It will be an important discussion," Transport Minister Omar Alghabra tweeted afterwards. "Canadians deserve answers."

Hundreds of people were stranded in Mexico over the holidays after Sunwing cancelled their flights, leaving passengers scrambling and accusing the company of not communicating well.

Last week, the vacation destination airline announced it was cancelling all flights from Regina and Saskatoon until early February due to extenuating circumstances.

Via Rail had also been criticized, including by Alghabra, after passengers were stranded for hours as a winter storm pounded parts of Ontario and Quebec.

Many trains scheduled to run on Christmas Eve were cancelled, and the company said a CN Rail derailment was the culprit for more cancellations on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

A spokesperson for Via Rail said late Tuesday it would respond 鈥渇avourably鈥 to a committee request to explain what led to the situation last month.

Air travel was the source of many complaints throughout 2022 as the industry experienced the widespread return of both domestic and international travel after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.

Issues at airports, including lost baggage and lengthy delays, have been blamed in part on staffing shortages. Adding to the issues were long wait times at passport offices as Service Canada struggled to make up a backlog of applications that accumulated during the first two years of the pandemic.

Conservative MP Mark Strahl, a member of the transport committee, said Tuesday his party wants Alghabra to answer for what happened over the holidays.

"He broke his promise to fix the system and Canadians paid the price for it," he said in a tweet.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 3,2023.

IN DEPTH

Opinion

opinion

opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike

When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

How to win the fight with kids over phone use

The end of the day 鈥 when school, extracurricular activities and homework are (hopefully) finally done 鈥 is the window that many kids have for downtime. It can be a struggle to convince them not to go on their phones.

Tattoos are becoming more common in today's society and, as a result, appear to be more acceptable in the workplace than they used to be.

Local Spotlight

Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man鈥檚 best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

Stay Connected