Testing Air Canada's accessibility promises; 'bad results' at DNA testing lab: CBC's Marketplace cheat sheet

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Air Canada promised to become more accessible. But hidden cameras show there's still more to do

Paralympian Brock Richardson landed in Fredericton already knowing that a piece of equipment he requested before the trip would not be there to help move him from his seat to his wheelchair. 
 
Months after Air Canada committed to immediate action to improve the experience of customers with disabilities, a Marketplace team went undercover with Richardson in May to see whether the airline had followed through on its promises from Nov. 9, 2023. 
 
The pledges came after a series of unsafe and demeaning incidents involving customers who use wheelchairs and a Marketplace investigation that uncovered serious issues with staff training, among other shortfallings.

Air Canada said it would invest in equipment like the lift Richardson requested. And it also promised enhanced training for employees.

But Marketplace's hidden cameras documented the airline falling short of multiple announced improvements during a round-trip flight from Toronto to Fredericton it paid for Richardson to take for the investigation. 

Richardson isn't alone in not having a lift available at his destination airport. The same thing happened to Alessia Di Virgilio in Charlottetown the first time Marketplace tested Air Canada's accessibility in August 2023.

Brock says the lift equipment is more comfortable; A sling can transfer a passenger directly from their wheelchair to their seat. Without that equipment, staff have to pick someone up twice — first to transfer them from their wheelchair to a narrower aisle chair and then again to place them on the plane seat.

So when Richardson was told there would be no lift available in Fredericton when he booked the trip a week before departure, the athlete said he felt the airline had taken away his autonomy in deciding how to be safely transferred onto the plane.  

"The first thing I thought of was, 'Well, you've taken my choice away,'" he said. "You've taken my ability to make that decision. You've taken my ability to be comfortable." 

Though a lift was not available for Richardson, Air Canada had ordered 27 lifts from Australia in December 2023 and they were expected to start arriving in June, Stevens said last May. An update from the airline in October said those lifts have since been delivered, including one in Fredericton. 

"At present we have our own lifts, or access to third-party lifts, at all but 14 of the 50 stations we currently serve in Canada," wrote Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick in an email. He said the airline is considering buying more lifts for the remaining 14 locations or arranging for a shared purchase with other airlines or the airports themselves. Read more.

• Watch Marketplace's full investigation,"Access Denied: Back on the Case," this Friday at 8 p.m., 8:30 p.m. in Newfoundland, on CBC-TV and anytime on YouTube or CBC Gem.

Toronto DNA lab trashed some prenatal paternity samples without testing them, ex-employee alleges

A former employee of a Toronto DNA laboratory says he saw a Viaguard Accu-Metrics manager — who is now a convicted fraudster — discard some samples sent by customers before they were ever tested. 

A CBC News investigation previously revealed that Accu-Metrics sold prenatal paternity testing services around the world for about a decade knowing its results routinely identified the wrong biological fathers. 

Now, a former employee has stepped forward, saying he witnessed Kyle Tsui toss some samples sent by prenatal paternity testing customers into a garbage bin behind the laboratory's building. 

None of these allegations have been proven in court. CBC News agreed to grant the former employee anonymity due to the impact revealing his name could have on his current employment. 

Tsui was Accu-Metrics's technical manager and oversaw sample collection. In September, he was sentenced to 41 months in a U.S. prison for running a separate fraudulent company on the side that claimed to test for hundreds of food allergies using just a small hair sample. Tsui admitted to tossing out those customers' samples without ever testing them.

There is no established connection between Tsui's food sensitivity scam company and Accu-Metrics.

Harvey Tenenbaum, the owner of Accu-Metrics, told CBC News the incorrect results were the customers' fault. He claimed they contaminated the samples before they reached the laboratory. 

The new findings in CBC News's ongoing investigation are featured in the new CBC News podcast, Bad Results, which launched Oct. 28. Read more.

'With or without job?': Online ads illegally sell jobs to temporary foreign workers

It took less than five minutes on the phone for a man selling a job on Kijiji to name his price: $25,000.

Our undercover reporter, posing as a recently graduated international student eager for work and permanent residency (PR) in Canada, had replied to the seller's classified ad for a government-approved position in food service.

During that July phone call, the man asked her if she needed "the job with LMIA or just LMIA without job."

The LMIA, or Labour Market Impact Assessment, that the man was selling is a document issued to employers by the federal government. It allows them to hire foreign workers after employers prove they can't find a Canadian or a permanent resident to fill a position.

These LMIA-supported positions not only allow foreign nationals to work legally in Canada but also increase their chances of becoming permanent residents. Given the federal government's announcement on Thursday that it would shrink the number of available PR spots starting next year, these permits could become even more coveted.

Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, charging foreign workers any money for LMIAs is illegal.

"That's outright fraud," said Ravi Jain, principal lawyer of Jain Immigration Law in Toronto.

"This person is doing something very illegal and they're doing it quite openly," said Jain, after listening to our recorded calls with prospective sellers, including the one on Kijiji. "It's sad that there are people who know enough about the system that they're willing to exploit it." Read more.

What else is going on?

Are some rents in Canada part of a price-fixing scheme?
Groups call on Canada's Competition Bureau to investigate collusion and price-fixing allegations

As sales drop, Starbucks is killing extra charges for non-dairy options
CEO calls financial results 'very disappointing,' but promises dairy-alternative price cuts

More than 1 million Canadians have now received dental care under new national insurance plan
Each patient has received an average of $730 on oral health-care services

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