Unanimous motion to deny $ 20 million bonus granted to senior Air Canada executives

The House of Commons unanimously supports a resolution condemning the $ 20 million bonus given to senior executives.

More details are coming.

Justin Trudeau described the $ 20 million bonus given to senior Air Canada executives after a deadly pandemic year and emergency assistance taken out of taxpayers’ pockets as “unacceptable.”

Also read: Special $ 20 million bonus for Air Canada executives

Also read: Shame on Air Canada executives 20 million

“Shocked” and “angry” Canadians deserve to ask “solid explanations” from the country’s largest airline, beating the prime minister during question time on Wednesday.

“We have entered into an agreement with Air Canada, among other things, for limited executive compensation, including stock options. However, even when Air Canada negotiated its contracts with us, we saw that Air Canada was giving an enormous bonus to executives, which was not entirely acceptable,” Trudeau said.

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These “incentive bonuses” are given to the company’s performance during the most difficult year in the history of civil aviation.

Since the outbreak, Air Canada has laid off more than half or 21,700 of its employees, but has received $ 50,650 million in wage subsidies from the federal government to maintain the remaining workforce.

This made COVID-19 one of the largest private beneficiaries to offer during the epidemic.

“A lot of workers have been laid off, they are people who work on planes or mechanics, and the fact that there are bonuses for superiors, even when going through very difficult times, is not entirely acceptable,” Mr Trudeau repeated in the House.

$ 20 million was distributed in various forms to five executives, but the lion’s share went to former CEO Colin Rovines, who equated 26 to 9.26 million.

Recall that Ottawa concluded a $ 5.9 billion aid agreement with Air Canada last April. The deal includes a cap on executive compensation of $ 1 million, which is valid until the loan is repaid, but the distribution of bonuses took place during negotiations, so before the end of the deal.

Finance Minister Christiaan Freeland, “deeply disappointed” with the company’s management measures, stressed on Wednesday that the limit on future executive compensation was close to her heart.

Air Canada also recently refused to reimburse aircraft canceled due to COVID-19, but without the assistance of the $ 1.4 billion federal credit included in the rescue plan.

“We all hope that Air Canada will explain itself,” Justin Trudeau reiterated.

“The bonus situation in Air Canada is disgraceful! Conservative MP Richard Martell said the Prime Minister was relieving himself when the Conservatives made it clear that taxpayers’ money should not be used to pay executive salaries or bonuses.”