True North

Airlines are no longer required to provide refunds to customers who have cancelled their flights due to coronavirus travel restrictions and health warnings.

According to a March 25 statement by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), airlines will instead issue flight vouchers valid for up to 24 months. 

Air Canada and WestJet have already implemented the policy and will not be giving customers refunds for cancellations. 

The CTA claims that Canadian Air Passenger Protection Regulations are not equipped to deal with the current mass cancellations occurring due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The legislation, regulations, and tariffs were developed in anticipation of relatively localized and short-term disruptions. None contemplated the sorts of worldwide mass flight cancellations that have taken place over recent weeks as a result of the pandemic,” said the CTA. 

“It’s important to consider how to strike a fair and sensible balance between passenger protection and airlines’ operational realities in these extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances.”

Airlines have been devastated as a result of global travel restrictions imposed to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Early in March, Canadian airline stocks crashed shortly after US President Donald Trump initially announced travel restrictions from Europe. 

Since March 13, Air Canada shares have fallen by over 50%. The company was forced to lay off over 5,000 employees as a result of the pandemic. 

WestJet also announced on Tuesday that it will be laying off 6,900 workers to deal with the industry’s downturn.

“We are now operating at the same size that we were back in 2003. I commend those who chose to stand down so our airline can stand up,” said CEO Ed Sims. 

A Liberal MP lamented Bombardier’s decision to lay off 70% of its Canadian workforce despite the fact that numerous businesses across the country were also being forced to cut down on staff.

On March 24th, Leader of the Government Pablo Rodriguez said that his “heart goes out to the employees of Bombardier” after news broke about the company’s decision.

The company made the announcement on Tuesday, saying that it would halt their jet and rail production operations until April 26. 

A total of 12,400 people will be out of work, including both plant and corporate employees. The company is encouraging people who will be out of work to apply for employment insurance.

While the job losses at Bombardier is dreaded news for those affected and the Canadian economy, a number of other companies in Canada have decided to lay off staff due to the coronavirus pandemic as well.

On the same day of Rodriguez’s tweet, WestJet announced it would lay off 6,900 employees, significantly reducing its workforce of 14,000.

“We are now operating at the same size that we were back in 2003,” said WestJet CEO Ed Sims. 

Vancouver-based Mountain Equipment Co-op also announced that it would close all 22 stores across Canada until March 30. Around 1,300 full-time and part-time staff were temporarily laid off as a result of the decision. 

Meanwhile, Cineplex Inc. said that its temporary layoffs were numbered in the “thousands” after it was forced to temporarily shut down 165 Canadian movie theatres. 

In 2017, The Trudeau government bailed out Bombardier with a $372.5 million federal loan. In addition to those funds, Quebec lavished the company with an additional $1 billion. 

Despite the government bailouts, Bombardier has struggled to meet project demands, while also performing poorly on the stock market. 

After announcing the company would focus on its private jet business, Bombardier stock fell to 43 cents down from $1.21. 

As the coronavirus pandemic puts hundreds of thousands of Canadians out of work, the Trudeau government is promising to help foreign countries as much as possible.

During the Prime Minister’s update on Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters that Canada will be providing more to the international community to fight the spread of coronavirus.

“We’re going to do whatever it takes. That means making sure the World Health Organization or our public health agencies have the resources they need,” he said.

On Wednesday, the United Nations launched an appeal for $2 billion from the international community to help in their fight against coronavirus.

When asked about the appeal, Trudeau refused to say how much Canada might contribute to the United Nations’ efforts, but said Canada will be working closely with international organizations.

Last week the government announced $50 million in new foreign aid to help other countries during the global coronavirus pandemic. In the same week, nearly 1 million Canadians filed for employment insurance.

International Development Minister Karina Gould defended the funding, criticizing those who say the government should have used the money to help Canadians in need.

Gould added that foreign aid is necessary right now as coronavirus knows no borders.

44% of Canadian workers say the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a job loss or reduced hours.

The White House is considering putting troops near the Canadian border to monitor those entering the United States illegally.

The Canadian government learned of the discussion within the United States government a couple of days ago, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed Thursday morning following a Global News report.

Trudeau’s government has pushed back against the proposal, which has not yet been adopted or implemented.

“Canada and the United States have the longest unmilitarized border in the world and it is very much in both of our interests for it to remain that way,” said Trudeau.

According to Global News, just under 1,000 troops would be stationed 30 kilometres away from the Canadian border, employing detection technology to identify anybody attempting to cross into the US illegally. 

While the military would not be able to arrest or detain anybody, anybody detected attempting to cross at an unofficial point will be reported to border authorities who would then intercept them.

According to official statistics, 4,316 people crossed the border from Canada into the US illegally in 2018. On the other hand since February of 2017 nearly 55,000 people have crossed the border illegally into Canada from the US. 

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Thursday afternoon that the presence of troops would damage bilateral relationships between the two countries. 

“The specifics of what the US proposes to do within its own borders is truly a question which is rightly posed to American leaders and I think it would be inappropriate for anyone other than US leaders to comment on what it is that they’re contemplating,” said Freeland. 

“We are very directly and very forcefully expressing the view I shared a moment ago, which is that, in Canada’s view, this is an entirely unnecessary step which we would view as damaging to our relationship.” 

Last week, Trudeau announced that any illegal border crosser attempting to enter Canada will be immediately returned to the US. Non-essential travel between Canada and the US has also been prohibited as of Friday, March 20 based on a mutual agreement between the two countries.

“Today, Canada and the United States are announcing a reciprocal arrangement where we will now be returning irregular migrants who attempt to cross anywhere at the Canada-US border,” said Trudeau. 

Groups seeking to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic are organizing a “rent strike” for April 1. 

Posters and other materials are being distributed on social media, advising tenants to not pay their landlords their dues.

Several groups including Parkdale Organize and Keep Your Rent Toronto are advocating for the strike after Ontario announced that they will be suspending eviction orders while the threat of the pandemic exists. 

“We should keep our rent. Our landlords will be fine. We may not be. No tenant should feel forced to hand over so much money when faced with so much uncertainty. You should keep your rent. Whatever you have, hang on to it. Once you give it to your landlord, it’s gone,” wrote Parkdale Organize on their website. 

‘Landlords’ resources will allow them to withstand the COVID-19 pandemic better than most, while tenants are more and more concerned with our daily survival.”

According to the Landlord and Tenant Board of Ontario, all new eviction applications and evictions orders that don’t deal with illegal acts or safety issues will be suspended. 

True North spoke to the President of Ontario Landlords Watch about the strike and what it would mean for smaller landlords. 

“We can definitely sympathize with the situation at hand and understand it was necessary, but the government has put landlords now in a very bad situation,” said Andrade. 

“Tenants are now abusing this pandemic, they’re abusing the situation that’s already in place.” 

One far-left website that advocated arson and provided detailed instructions on how to make Molotov cocktails during the national rail blockade crisis is calling for a similar rent strike in Montreal.

On March 20th, Montreal Counter-Information instructed its followers to refuse to pay their rent beginning April 1. 

True North was able to access the private Keep Your Rent Facebook group and discovered some troubling posts, including a photograph of a guillotine.

One user posted a diagram with the caption “Who Would Win?” depicting “an abusive ruling class” on one side and a guillotine on the other. “Off topic…..i have a quick question…” wrote the user in his post. 

“The government has given a social license to all tenants not to pay rent. Rent strikes have been the goal before of these groups,” said landlord Syl Carle. 

“What the government did was not well thought out and it was really unnecessary.” 

According to Andrade, some of the government’s messaging is to blame for the impending housing crisis. 

Last week Premier Doug Ford told tenants not to worry about how they’re going to pay rent and on Monday the Ontario government promised incoming relief.

“The last thing that people need when being told to isolate at home, is to worry about not being able to afford their home or business’ rent. We are temporarily suspending eviction orders to ensure that tenants are protected,” said Ford. 

Andrade says that the solution might be to help by having a direct payment sent directly to smaller landlords who might not be able to afford the losses that would result from a rent strike. 

“This is all hands on deck every landlord association is trying to get this type of solution implemented of having the money sent directly to the landlord’s hands,” said Andrade.