Friday, November 27, 2009

Air passenger bill of rights grounded

Perhaps the best Maloway can do is bring the matter to public attention and this may put pressure on the Conservatives to come up with a bill. Private members bills rarely get passed but they can help light a fire under the governing party to consider important issues such as this.

Committee grounds air passenger bill of rights
Globe and Mail

.New Democrat MP Jim Maloway's efforts to forge an air passenger bill of rights are veering off path. Under his private member's bill, the Winnipeg MP said he wants to shift power to consumers and clamp down on airlines whenever flights go awry. But the federal transport committee stalled for six months, and then voted by a 7-4 margin to send the bill to the House of Commons without amendments, Mr. Maloway said in an interview yesterday. He blamed the Bloc Québécois for joining the Conservatives in opposing his bill. Faced with the airline industry's lobbying, Mr. Maloway said he was willing to make compromises, but to no avail. The MP said he still hopes to gather political support in January, by which time winter storms could trigger cancelled and delayed flights.

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