Toronto airport boss tries to rally staff amid continued disruptions
CBC
The head of Canada's busiest airport sought to rally staff on Thursday, amid its continued disruptions and delays, but warned they might encounter more angry customers if the problems continue at Pearson International Airport.
Deborah Flint, chief executive of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), urged hundreds of airport and airline staff to "please stay heartened" as they "continue to work through the challenges."
"For every single passenger that many of you see that may vent their frustration in front of you, or maybe they do it in social media, there's another group of more passengers that have nothing but gratitude for each and every thing you and your colleagues do," Flint said, to applause, at the staff event.
Her speech, which was audible from a public area of the airport, followed two months of troubles at the Toronto airport, where many passengers have faced flight delays, cancellations and hours-long bottlenecks at security.
The GTAA, which operates the airport, and airlines blame a lack of security screening staff, ongoing federal COVID-19 restrictions and limitations on aircraft movements.
"There's an expectation that we can just turn the wheel on and make things back to the way they used to be before the pandemic," Flint said.
But "travel today is just not the way it was before."
Her remarks came three days after former NHL player Ryan Whitney crystallized the frustrations of many travellers, taking aim on Twitter at both Pearson ("the worst place on earth") and Air Canada after his flight to Boston was cancelled.
GTAA chief operating officer Craig Bradbrook told CBC News it was "heartbreaking" to read travellers' posts about missed flights to their vacations and family reunions.
"This is not how we want to operate an airport; it's not the level of service we aspire as an airport to provide to the traveling public," he said.
"A lot of effort has been put in over the recent weeks, and we are seeing improvements, and the wait times are reducing … There's still a lot of work that still needs to be done, obviously, but we're moving in the right direction."
International travellers arriving at Pearson on Thursday told CBC News it took just a matter of minutes to pass through customs and collect their luggage.
Meenu Salvan, who travelled from New York City for a wedding, described her arrival as "very calm."
"I've visited worse airports, so you're good on that part," she said.
A man who terrorized women in St. John's in 2012 is now suing the federal government, saying he'll never walk again after being stabbed at a prison in Renous, N.B.
When help finally came for snowmobiler Dave Metcalfe, he'd almost given up hope it was coming at all.
The City of Montreal is asking residents to stay home as much as possible until Monday evening, as crews work to clear a second round of snow dumped on the city by Sunday's winter storm.
An internal government report warned a year ago that allowing "the trend of negative rhetoric" about the security of the Canada-U.S. border could lead to a thickening of the 49th parallel, adversely affecting trade and travel.
Saskatchewan RCMP says it's investigating three stabbing incidents on Big River First Nation.
Police in Surrey, B.C., say they have arrested a suspect believed to be involved in two unprovoked stranger assaults last week.
Liberal leadership candidate and former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney said on Sunday that former prime minister Stephen Harper asked him to join his cabinet as finance minister in 2012.
WARNING: This story contains details of experiences at residential schools.
The sudden closure of Yellowknife's Great Slave Animal Hospital has left both pet owners and animal care non-profits in the N.W.T. scrambling to find veterinary care.
Nearly the entirety of Alberta is in for a bout of frigid temperatures beginning Saturday, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).
Seemingly never-ending snow, extreme cold, and a mix of ice pellets and freezing rain. Across much of Canada, it's been a nasty holiday weekend for weather.
A Sunday storm is brewing, and it's also set to usher in Islander Day with a mixture of snow, ice pellets, freezing rain and wind across P.E.I.
A winter storm warning has been lifted for London and Middlesex County as residents continue to dig themselves out from the region's second major snowfall in less than a week.