OTTAWA – Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says the federal government is working on new measures to help alleviate delays at major airports, adding that a “similar phenomenon” is happening around the world.
Speaking to reporters on the way to a weekly meeting of the Liberal caucus, the minister says working groups that include airports, airlines, public health and federal officials meet up to three times a week to try to find solutions.
But when pressed for details on when changes are expected, Alghabra says it is not yet ready to announce new measures.
People traveling through Canadian airports have suffered long lines and flight delays as trips after the pandemic increase, especially at Toronto Pearson Airport.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says the Canada Border Services Agency and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority are hiring new staff, adding that it is important that airports also ensure they have enough employees.
Conservatives have called on the government to lift travel restrictions, which require anyone returning from abroad to confirm their immunization status, and to stop using the ArriveCan app and stop random testing of COVID- 19 at airports.
“From the lowest point of the pandemic, travel has increased by 700 or 800 percent, in that range,” Mendicino said Tuesday.
“Right now, the latest statistics we have is that about three percent, only three percent, of all travelers to Pearson and Vancouver International are waiting more than half an hour.”
Alghabra said the federal cabinet talks about mandates on a regular basis as it has done during the pandemic and “sometimes we will make adjustments.”
“It is also important to keep in mind that this phenomenon is happening at airports around the world,” Alghabra said. “I’m not saying that to say there’s no responsibility here.”
The Canadian Airports Council again issued a statement on Monday calling for an end to vaccination warrants for passengers and aviation staff, saying “now there is a different standard” for these groups than for others. Canadians.
In an interview last month, the interim chair of the council, Monette Pasher, said that random tests and public health questions at customs meant that it takes four times as long to prosecute people as before the pandemic.
He said it was okay when people weren’t traveling, he said, but now it’s become a serious problem because airports just don’t have the physical space to accommodate long queues of people.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 8, 2022.