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WestJet and Air Transat passengers fight back after airlines falsely claim they can’t film disputes
Passenger Jingan Huang was recording his son’s interactions with WestJet agents when one of the agents reached for his phone, telling him incorrectly that he cannot record.
Jason Huang says he and three older relatives were simply trying to get back to Toronto last August when a routine check-in at the WestJet counter at Edmonton International Airport escalated into a confrontation.
The family was wrapping up a trip to Banff, Jasper and Calgary and had already checked in online and printed their boarding passes. But Huang says at the check-in counter, a WestJet agent issued new ones for a later flight — without explanation.
When Huang asked why they were no longer on the original plane, he says no one would provide a clear answer. He continued to question the change, and was told the aircraft they were supposed to fly on had been downsized and some of the passengers — including his family — had to fly several hours later.
Huang wanted to document this response so he could submit it with a compensation claim, so he pulled out his phone and began making an audio recording.
A WestJet agent could be heard telling Huang he would call the police if he did not stop recording.
When Huang refused, the agent told him, “You’re not flying today.”
Huang says when his father tried to record a video of what was happening on his own phone, the situation worsened.
The agent tried to grab that phone, which Huang says resulted in his 73-year-old father getting hit in the eye, leaving it red and swollen.
A lawyer with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) says what he saw on the videos was disturbing, because recording such interactions is perfectly legal in Canada.
WestJet declined Go Public’s request for an on-camera interview.
In a statement, a spokesperson wrote that the incident was “promptly investigated,” that the airline apologizes to the guests and that there would be “internal follow up.” WestJet declined to elaborate when asked what that follow-up included, writing that “personnel matters” are “strictly confidential” due to privacy laws.
Read more from CBC Go Public’s Erica Johnson and Ana Komnenic.
Nicotine pouches are being illegally sold in corner stores across Canada
A CBC News hidden camera investigation finds unauthorized nicotine pouches being illegally sold at stores across the country. For The National, CBC’s Idil Mussa breaks down how the product is getting young people hooked and why experts say it’s time for Canada to crack down.
A CBC News investigation has uncovered that outlawed nicotine pouches, in high dosages and fun flavours, are still readily available for sale in corner stores across the country despite new federal regulations meant to limit their access and deter youth.
In August 2024, the federal government limited the sale of nicotine pouches to pharmacies over growing concerns raised by multiple health groups about their popularity among non-smokers and youth.
Nicotine pouches are highly regulated by Health Canada as natural health products for those 18 and over and are supposed to function as a tool to help people quit smoking.
Zonnic, owned by Imperial Tobacco Canada, is the only brand legally available for sale at pharmacies. The company is only authorized to sell four-milligram pouches in “mint or menthol” flavours to limit their appeal to kids and teens, under the regulations.
And yet, CBC News journalists in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax were able to walk into convenience stores and purchase what appeared to be Zyn, the most popular nicotine pouch brand in the U.S., from the tobacco company Philip Morris International.
Corner store after corner store sold such packs in fruity flavours and doses as high as 15 mg.
Online, multiple distributors claiming to be located in Canada offered an array of pouch brands in unauthorized flavours and high doses, coupled with a promise to deliver these items quickly and discreetly.
“If you take a highly addictive drug like nicotine and you wrap it up and sell it in lovely flavours with lovely branding and you put messages around that, that it’s fun to use … kids are going to buy it and they’re going to use it,” said David Hammond, a professor at the University of Waterloo’s school of public health sciences, who studies tobacco control.
CBC News could not verify whether the pouches bought in convenience stores were authentic.
In an emailed statement, the local subsidiary of Philip Morris International — Rothmans, Benson & Hedges — wrote that the “products at issue are being sold by unauthorized parties,” and that it “works with law enforcement to stop illicit trade and we are supportive of government efforts on this front.”
Read more from CBC’s Idil Mussa, Albert Leung, Britnei Bilhete.
Homeowner says she’s out $381K after hiring Ottawa contractor to renovate kitchen
An Ottawa couple says they’ve lost out on more than $381,000 after hiring Ottawa contractor Giuseppe “Joey” Peloso and his company Magnolia to renovate their kitchen, when plumbing broke and flooded their home. Plaintiffs in other lawsuits against Peloso and his business include other customers, subcontractors, investors, the Republic of Austria and Embassy of Niger.
An Ottawa couple says they’ve lost out on more than $381,000 after hiring a construction contractor to renovate their kitchen, citing delays, lack of inspections and oversight, and ultimately “poor” workmanship that they say ended up flooding their kitchen and basement within weeks of the project’s completion.
“It was devastating,” said homeowner Katy Alp.
Alp said she hired Giuseppe “Joey” Peloso, who runs Magnolia Design & Build, also known as Magnolia Construction, in 2023.
The couple paid $117,064.80 to Magnolia to demolish and renovate their outdated kitchen, according to a civil lawsuit they have since filed. Work began in March 2024 and ran until October 2024.
But about six weeks after Magnolia finished the project, the couple came home from a weekend trip to find a plumbing connection to the sink supply line had “failed,” said Alp.
“There was water running everywhere through our kitchen.… Our basement had about three inches of water in it, from corner to corner,” she said.
Her kitchen and basement eventually had to be redone.
In their August 2025 civil claim, Alp and her husband, Kaveh Afshar-Zanjani, estimate damages at $381,979.02, plus punitive damages. That includes their payment to Magnolia, costs to hire other contractors to remediate and redo renovations, loss of belongings and finding another place to live while the work was being redone.
Multiple separate lawsuits have been brought against Peloso and Magnolia in recent years. Plaintiffs include customers, subcontractors, investors and businesses, a tenant and even two foreign entities: the Embassy of Niger and the Republic of Austria.
Peloso declined an interview. Through Ottawa public relations agency Syntax Strategic, Peloso wrote that he takes clients’ concerns seriously, but that legal disputes arise in “rare cases.”
“It is regrettable but a reality of the construction industry [is] that when dealing with a high volume of renovations, multiple trades, suppliers, and custom-fabricated materials, disputes can arise from time to time,” Peloso wrote.
Read more from CBC’s Priscilla Ki Sun Hwang and Nicole Williams.
What else is going on?
Retiree warns others after losing $3K to crypto fraud using AI video of prime minister
Fake, AI-generated interview between CBC host Rosemary Barton and Prime Minister Mark Carney tricked senior into investing in fraudulent crypto site
Montreal-area paramedics have a new dispatch system. They fear it’s putting patients at risk
Urgences-santé defends system, says glitches are part of ‘growing pains’
Should kidfluencers be banned? That’s the plan in the EU
Few laws exist about kidfluencing, and experts says Canada needs to create one
Food prices could increase in 2026, with meat leading the way
Higher beef prices will push up costs for other meat, according to annual forecast
Reducing ultra-processed food intake requires rethinking our ‘food environment,’ experts say
Changes to grocery stores and food labels could help encourage healthier eating
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