The Canadian Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, will have to testify about Canada’s continuing airport congestion and other travel problems in the next ten days or so.
The House of Commons Transport Committee held an emergency meeting on Monday to debate Conservative transport critic Melissa Lantsman’s request to have the minister, a key member of the Justin Trudeau Cabinet, appear “for no fewer than two hours and answer questions about flight delays and cancellations at Toronto Pearson and other Canadian airports. The Lantsman motion was approved unanimously.
Alghabra also has been asked to talk about the government’s unpopular ArriveCAN app, a document that travellers coming into Canada are required to fill out. Transport Committee members said they want the meeting televised.
The Toronto Star reports the meeting must be held by August 22, but the National Post says the hearing must be held by August 19.
Toronto Pearson earlier this summer was labelled the worst airport in the world for delays. Airport officials say things have gotten a little better, but the website flightaware.com says 41% of outgoing flights and 42% of incoming flights were delayed at Pearson on Monday.
John Gradek, head of McGill University’s aviation management program, told the Globe and Mail that airlines aggressively ramped up their flight schedules as travel picked up again but have not been mindful of their own labour shortages.
Canadian airlines laid off workers at the start of the pandemic and have been facing challenges with hiring enough workers back into the industry, he said. Airports also shoulder some of the blame, Gradek said.
