The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Transport, and 

The Honourable Kamal Khera, Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities

House of Commons

Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6

Dear Ministers,

I am writing to you today on behalf of March of Dimes Canada to express my concerns regarding the recurring, undignified, and intolerable air travel experiences of people with disabilities, and to advocate for an end to this offensive and preventable human rights issue.

Over the last two years, as you know, people with disabilities across Canada have had experiences of not receiving proper accommodation during air travel. These experiences are often in spite of planning ahead as the airlines request. We have heard of mobility devices arriving at their destination broken and unusable, taking away the traveler’s independence and dignity, and often resulting in expensive and time-consuming repair requirements. We have heard of mobility devices left behind, as was recently the case for Canada’s Chief Accessibility Officer (CAO) Stephanie Cadieux. We also heard of Rodney Hodgins, who said he had to drag himself off the plane due to the lack of proper assistance. Finally – just a few days ago – Sara Morris-Probert, a Paralympian, had to transfer herself up a set of stairs to board a WestJet flight, and described the experience as degrading and humiliating. This simply cannot continue to happen in Canada.

Maayan Ziv, a leading disability rights advocate on this issue has said, "we need accountability measures that proactively protect people when things go wrong and don’t require passengers to self-advocate. There needs to be automatic harsh penalties put in place every time a mobility device is damaged, or issue occurs.”

In our March of Dimes Canada community, I have heard stories about the risks of air travel for people with disabilities. The themes are stark. The airlines’ accommodation services have a long way to go to ensure that travelers with disabilities travel unimpeded by barriers that airlines put in place. Travelers with disabilities are finding it imperative to take it upon themselves to come up with ways around systems to plan and be able to travel safely. Indeed, one of our board members is attending our board meetings virtually, in part due to the concern about damaged wheelchairs and flight cancellations.

As Minister of Transport, you have called on Air Canada to meet with you along with Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities and you have asked that the airline “present a plan to address this.” We cannot rely solely on the airlines to resolve this issue. People with disabilities have the same right to reliable and consistent air travel as all Canadians, and that air passenger protection rights ensure all accessibility accommodations are in place at all times.

Air Canada’s Accessibility Plan 2023-26 and the airline’s commitment to a series of measures to reduce barriers are steps in the right direction. However, people with disabilities cannot wait years for action, and words without actions will not lead to change. It is incumbent upon the federal government to enforce the rules that already exist. To this end, I call on you both, as Minister of Transport and Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities, to also work with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada to develop and implement measures which ensure the rights of travelers with disabilities, including:

Thank you for your continued efforts toward a resolution. I would appreciate the favour of your reply and I am available to consult at your convenience.

Sincerely,

Len Baker

President & CEO

March of Dimes Canada