Luggage lawsuit takes flight; surprise phone number reassignment: CBC's Marketplace cheat sheet
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Air Canada was ordered to pay a passenger $2,000 for delayed luggage. Instead, it's taking him to court
Alaa Tannous was pleased when the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) ordered Air Canada to pay him $2,079 for delayed luggage, following a flight he and his wife, Nancy, took from Toronto to Vancouver in 2022.
"I felt it's fair," said Tannous, who had waited more than two years for the CTA's decision.
But instead of receiving a payout from Air Canada, the airline served him with court documents this past December — on Christmas Eve. Air Canada is taking Tannous to Federal Court in an attempt to overturn the CTA's decision.
The CTA, Canada's transport regulator, isn't named in the court case, so Tannous is on his own.
"It was shocking," he said about being served at his Toronto home. "It's disappointing to see the airline, after all the money I spent with them over the years … they're appealing a $2,000 claim."
This is the fourth CTA ruling airlines have challenged in court in 2024, and the second one filed by Air Canada. The other case, which is still before the courts, involves passengers Andrew and Anna Dyczkowski in B.C. They were awarded $2,000 for a flight delay, which Air Canada is contesting.
"Something is really wrong in the system," Andrew Dyczkowski told CBC News in June 2024.
Air Canada said it can't comment on a case before the courts. In court documents, the airline said it's not seeking legal costs from Tannous, should it win its legal challenge. Read more
This woman's cellphone number was given to another customer — without her consent
An international student in Cape Breton, N.S., says a recent transfer of her cellphone number — without her consent — highlights potential security risks for all mobile phone users in Canada.
On the morning of Dec. 30, 2024, Huijun Long received a notification on the Virgin Plus app that her phone number with the company had been cancelled. Turns out, her number had been "mistakenly transferred" to a Bell Mobility account.
"I was really anxious because all of my banking information and other accounts' information are connected to the phone number," said Long.
Like millions of other customers, she regularly uses her mobile phone number as two-factor authentication — a security method that requires two forms of identification to access websites, software or data.
Long said she felt unsafe not knowing who had access to her number during the six-day period she didn't have her phone number.
She said she repeatedly asked for the number to be suspended, which was done after going back and forth with multiple customer service agents on the first day.
"I asked them, 'Why do you ask me about my personal information — you are so cautious about it — but transfer my phone number away so easily without any notification?'" said Long.
The company confirms that her number was transferred at a Bell retail location in Halifax. Virgin Plus is owned by Bell.
"Bell apologizes for any inconvenience this situation caused the customer," spokesperson Geoff Higdon said in a statement. Read more
Want to 'watch Canadian' in the trade war? Here's why that's so hard
Florida oranges. American cheese. Even bourbon. It seems nothing is beyond the newfound patriotic urge to shun American products amid the growing U.S.-Canada trade war.
But after years of purposefully enmeshing our various industries, buying Canadian is easier said than done.
Nowhere, it turns out, is that more evident than in film and television.
Canadians have "spent a lot of time figuring out how to attract other countries to us," said Tonya Williams, founder of the Reelworld Screen Institute. And so the Americans, in particular, "have slowly kind of seeped into every part of our culture."
According to the Canadian Media Producers Association, English-language domestic films made up 1.4 per cent of the national box office in 2023-24. But Canada's reliance on U.S. entertainment is nothing new.
The reasons, Williams says, are varied. Aside from Quebec's successful French-language output and the National Film Board's early international acclaim, a star system in this country is lacking. Films are rarely promoted to the same level as their American counterparts, Canadian actors are rarely made famous here and, due to poor messaging, audiences struggle to tell which movies are even Canadian.
But worse is the general apathy toward Canadian content. Outside of government organizations, there hasn't been much grassroots push to build a robust entertainment industry when America's is so prodigious, and their culture perceived to be so close to our own.
Williams thinks that's changing because of the newly antagonistic relationship.
"I think the will is there now in Canada," she said. "I don't think any country should be so reliant on another country that its own economy could crumble, you know, because of what happens [there]." Read more
What else is going on?
Why major countries can't agree on how to regulate artificial intelligence
The U.S. and U.K. refused to sign an international document pledging responsible AI development.
A global shortage of Guinness is bad news for St. John's pub owners
The CBC's Maddie Ryan reports on why St. John's pubs have run out of Guinness beer and how bar owners are faring without the popular Irish stout.
Gigatonnes of carbon are stored in under-protected areas
Canada is home to a quarter of the world's peatlands.
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