Decision No. 259-C-A-2001

May 18, 2001

File No. M4370/A74/01-229

COMPLAINT

On January 31, 2001, Joseph M. Boyle (hereinafter the complainant) filed with the Canadian Transportation Agency (hereinafter the Agency) the complaint set out in the title.

The complainant submits that, on May 4, 2000, his legal firm purchased several tickets for round trip travel between Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta. The complainant further submits that on June 1, 2000, when an employee of the firm attempted to use one of these tickets, staff of Canadian Airlines International Ltd. (hereinafter Canadi*n) confiscated all the tickets for being in violation of the tariffs applicable to Canadi*n and Air Canada which prohibit "back-to-back ticketing". The complainant argues that the action taken by Canadi*n and Air Canada is "extremely unfair".

ISSUE

The issue to be addressed is whether the Agency has jurisdiction over a complaint which relates to an incident that occurred prior to July 5, 2000, the date on which subsection 67.2(1) of the Canada Transportation Act, S.C., 1996, c. 10 (hereinafter the CTA) came into force.

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

Subsection 67.2(1) of the CTA sets out the Agency's jurisdiction over complaints concerning terms and conditions applicable to domestic services. Pursuant to subsection 67.2(1) of the CTA, the Agency may take certain remedial actions following receipt of a complaint where the Agency finds that the holder of a domestic licence has applied terms and conditions of carriage applicable to the domestic service it offers that are unreasonable or unduly discriminatory and may suspend or disallow those terms or conditions and substitute other terms or conditions in their place. This provision came into force on July 5, 2000.

The Agency has carefully reviewed and considered the complaint. The Agency notes that the complaint was filed on January 31, 2001. However, the complaint refers to the application of terms and conditions on May 4, 2000, a date preceding the coming into force of subsection 67.2(1) of the CTA.

As this provision does not have retroactive application, the complaint does not fall within the Agency's jurisdiction under the provisions of subsection 67.2(1) of the CTA.

CONCLUSION

In light of the foregoing, the Agency hereby dismisses the complaint.