The Toronto Sun: The official Opposition will call on the ethics commissioner to investigate an possible conflict of interest involving federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt over an alleged free seat upgrade from an Air Canada top executive, NDP labour critic Yvon Godin said.
The call comes after a document released to the media indicated Air Canada's CEO and executive vice-president Duncan Dee apparently upgraded Raitt's flight from economy to business class — almost a $550 value — for free on Sept. 25.
Godin said he now has possession of another electronic ticket suggesting Dee also authorized an upgrade for Raitt's chief of staff, Douglas Smith, on Oct. 10.
A spokesman from Raitt's office said neither the minister — who this week blocked the airlines' flight attendants from striking — nor her chief of staff ever accepted or requested a complimentary upgrade from Air Canada.
The spokesman gave documents to QMI Agency indicating Raitt and Smith used their own points for the upgrade.
But Godin still questions why Dee's name is on the ticket, insisting the documents are proof the minister and her staff received free upgrades.
Godin called Raitt's alleged involvement in the upgrades unethical and a conflict of interest.
"Air Canada is providing upgrading to her at the same time she is legislating workers back to work," he said in a telephone interview from New Brunswick.
"We have to stop ... those things. That's why we have a commissioner of ethics."
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