Advocacy Update – Feedback Requested for BC, ON and Federal Governments

First, a thank you to all members from all over Canada who have provided feedback during the Phase 3 consultation of the Ontario Travel Industry Act (TIA) Review. This is the last “kick at the can” for changes to the legislation so please take a few minutes to review the documents ACTA circulated and send in your views by Friday, July 21st.

Second, for our BC members, if you have not been advised, Consumer Protection BC (CPBC) is also undertaking a few review for each of the licensed sectors as the current fees and other charges expire on December 31, 2017. This consultation period closes on August 4, 2017. ACTA has been in consultation with the ACTA BC-YK Council and will be putting together a submission by the deadline. In summary, the government is proposing an annual 2% increase for all licence fees an other charges for 2018-2020. This has been the case in the previous three years. The government is also looking to offer a reduced fee if you renew two (2) weeks prior to the expiry of your license. This is good, however, if you don’t renew in time, you can no longer pay a late fee. The late fee is being eliminated and now, if you are late, you will have to apply as a new licence application. ACTA received clarification on this point and while all criteria would be required upon submitting a new application, the security would be reviewed and if nothing has changed in the legal entity, CPBC may be able to retain the current security and the licence number may also be able to remain depending on the circumstances. Finally, only 2% of the fees collected are spent on Education and Awareness. This could be an opportunity for ACTA to highlight that a larger percent should go toward this activity. You will recall that in the past, CPBC’s messaging was not received as being very positive on the part of working with a BC travel agency. Again, this is where ACTA can assist in ensuring that the right messaging (positive) is presented to BC consumers. The BC government is offering the opportunity to participate in a survey. All feedback is to be received no later than August 4th. The government must provide 90 days notice of the fee change for implementation.

Third, a follow-up to the initiatives announced by the federal government under the Ministry of Transport. The government has been visible on the proposal of a new Passenger Bill of Rights among other changes to the Canadian Transportation Act. ACTA will work with the Canadian Transportation Agency (known as the “Agency”) on the development of the policies at the appropriate stages. In the meantime, the federal government is in Phase 2 of the Regulatory Modernization Initiative (RMI) and is seeking comments and ideas to inform the development of proposed changes to the Air Transportation Regulation (ATR) and other guidance materials. The Agency has identified the following items for consideration:

• Charters and advance payment protection
• Licensing
       o   Code-sharing and wet-leasing
       o   Air insurance
       o   New business models and industry tools
       o   Excluded services
       o   Canadian ownership and control
• Compliance, monitoring and enforcement 

The Agency has put together a survey of questions, which ACTA encourages you to respond to, however, we would appreciate that ACTA is copied in on your feedback. The deadline to submit feedback to this phase of the RMI is August 25, 2017.