Latest from Erica Johnson
Go Public
Government documents suggest Ottawa stalled airline fee meant to fund passenger complaints system
Over two and a half years ago, Parliament ordered the Canadian Transportation Agency to create a fee airlines would pay to cover some of the roughly $30-million taxpayer cost to process air passenger complaints. Internal documents obtained by Go Public suggest Transport Canada and transport ministers have been pushing to undermine that fee.
Go Public
WestJet and Air Transat passengers fight back after airlines falsely claim they can’t film disputes
Jason Huang says a WestJet employee grabbed his phone and threatened to deny him boarding when he began recording his conversation during airport check-in. Legal expert say passengers are within their rights to record these interactions, and video and audio recordings may help in battles for compensation.
Go Public
Rogers clients complain of customer service nightmare, spending hours on hold to resolve simple issues
Rogers customers say they’re furious about what they say is a lack of customer service — spending hours and hours trying to cancel services or fix bills — as workers who handled Rogers customer service calls get laid off. Experts point to a lack of competition in the industry and few regulatory protections as the culprit.
GO PUBLIC
RBC and CIBC allow 89-year-old to drain life savings, lose $1.7M to scammers
A Victoria man says two of Canada’s biggest banks failed miserably in protecting him from one of the largest bank investigator scams ever reported. Royal Bank and CIBC claim they have robust protections in place.
GO PUBLIC
5 expert tips to protect yourself from financial fraud when the banks won't
Cybersecurity expert Claudiu Popa says financial institutions could do much more to protect customers from bank fraud in Canada. He urges people to follow these five tips to protect themselves.
GO PUBLIC
Air travel complaints backlog could soar to 126,000 by 2028
Figures from the Canadian Transportation Agency — obtained under Access to Information and provided to Go Public — show that a backlog of 87,000 air passenger complaints could increase by 45 per cent over next three years
GO PUBLIC
Air passenger rights group files court challenge to 'unconstitutional' rules it says muzzle travellers
The Air Passenger Rights group is taking the federal government to court over rules preventing passengers from talking publicly about complaints filed with Canada’s airline watchdog, saying they are unconstitutional because they violate the right to freedom of expression.
GO PUBLIC
Scotiabank holds customer responsible for almost $20K in credit card fraud
A B.C. man was surprised by fraudulent charges on his credit card, totalling almost $20K — and more surprised to learn his bank held him responsible. A cybersecurity expert says Scotiabank lacked strong evidence to pin it on their customer and was violating laws that cap customer liability at $50.
GO PUBLIC
Dealership told him low mileage was due to single owner — but it was actually odometer fraud
Steve Andrews thought he got a great deal: a used car with low mileage at a good price from a registered dealership. Instead, he discovered the odometer had been rolled back — a crime that’s easy to commit, difficult to track and could be on the rise as tariffs push the price of new cars higher.
GO PUBLIC
Shut out of medical school, he blames controversial admissions test which experts say lacks evidence
Most Canadian medical schools are screening future physicians with something called the Casper test — marketed as being able to assess people skills and predict future success. But critics say there’s no strong evidence the test does what it claims.