Petition presented to Parliament

Our petition will be presented to the House of Commons tomorrow (May 12th) by MP Yasmin Ratansi during the virtual sitting of Parliament. The text of the petition is attached.

Hopefully this will stir up some more media coverage and make the politicians think twice before considering airline bailouts. It is shameful that the The Canadian Transportation Agency and the Canadian government are still refusing to order the airlines to provide full refunds for flights cancelled during the coronavirus pandemic. The European Union has legislated refunds. The UK Department of Transportation has told airlines that they are obligated to provide a "prompt refund." And the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK has told airlines that they are legally required to provide refunds.

Thank you for your ongoing support. Please let your local MP know, loud and clear, exactly where you stand on this issue.

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To: The House of Commons
From: Bob Scott

May 12, 2020

WHEREAS

. Canadian airlines are refusing to provide full refunds to passengers whose flights were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

• These passengers, including many who have been laid-off from work and many small business owners who have been forced to close their businesses, as well as senior citizens and those with health problems desperately need their money back now.

• By offering vouchers for future travel the airlines are not meeting the wishes of their passengers and are in fact knowingly creating a coronavirus profit centre by using the money they are holding as interest-free loans and being fully aware that many passengers will be unable to redeem their vouchers due to ill health, financial constraints, work demands or death. The proceeds from these unredeemed coupons will flow directly to the airlines’ bottom line.

We the citizens and residents of Canada call upon the House of Commons to:

1. Refuse to provide any form of government financial aid to the Canadian airlines until they promptly provide full refunds to any Canadian citizen or resident whose flight was cancelled during the coronavirus pandemic and who requests a full refund instead of a travel voucher.

2. Require all foreign airlines with flights to, within, or from Canada to promptly provide full refunds to any Canadian citizen or resident whose flight was cancelled during the coronavirus pandemic and who requests a full refund instead of a travel voucher and to issue sanctions against any foreign airline that refuses to comply.