Have you encountered a situation where your air travel was significantly disrupted?

View this email in your browser ([link removed])

As I write this week's report from Ottawa, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the public sector union representing most of Canada's federal government workers, has announced that it is going on strike.

The key issues are reported to be wages and resistance from federal workers to return to the office instead of working from home.

The Trudeau Liberal government has publicly offered a 9% wage increase over three years. PSAC, however, has countered with a demand of 22.5% over three years.

With such a significant wage gap, it may take some time at the bargaining table to resolve this issue or find a path forward on returning to the office for work.

While this occurs, many government services, such as passport and immigration applications, will again be delayed.

Depending on the strike's duration, there may be delays in income tax refunds, and disruptions may occur at border crossings and other areas where federal workers are employed.

It should be noted that no worker enjoys going on strike.

For many, it disrupts household income as strike pay is often well below regular pay.

This situation is further challenging if a spouse is also on strike working in the public sector.

As some public sector workers have shared with me, wage gains can take several years to offset the income lost during a strike. For this reason and the public's impact,

I hope this strike is resolved quickly for all involved.

Another major topic making headlines in Ottawa this week is a bombshell report from CBC that the "Trudeau family vacationed with wealthy friends who donated to Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation" and that the "PM's New Year's trip to exclusive Jamaican locale cost taxpayers at least $160,000 for security and staff."

This comes after another recent bombshell news report that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stayed in a $6,000 per-night hotel suite while attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth.

What is unusual about the $6,000 per night hotel room stay is that PM Trudeau was asked about this multiple times in Question Period.

Despite knowing he was the one who stayed in this $6,000 per night hotel room, he refused to admit this fact under direct questioning.

On a different topic, and one that is not making many headlines in Ottawa, is news that the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities (TRAN) has recently released a report recommending many changes to the Trudeau Liberals' failed air passenger rights framework.

There are 21 recommendations, including larger financial penalties for airlines and a more efficient process for compensation claims consisting of automatic payouts for travellers who encountered significant flight delays.

Another significant change would be to place the burden of proof on airlines to document why compensation should not be provided.

My question this week is, have you encountered a situation where your air travel was significantly disrupted, and if so, was the existing air passenger bill of rights helpful in resolving the problem?

Reach me at [email protected] or call toll-free at 1-800-665-8711.

============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
** Email (mailto:[email protected])
Dan Albas is the Member of Parliament for the riding of Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola and the Co-Chair of the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations. Dan's riding includes the communities of Kelowna (specific boundaries), West Kelowna, Peachland, Summerland, Keremeos, Hedley, Princeton, Merritt and Logan Lake.
You can reach Dan by calling 1-800-665-8711 or visit: DanAlbas.com
Our mailing address is:
Dan Albas MP
2562B Main Street
West Kelowna, British Columbia V4T 2N5
Canada

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp
[link removed]