Bogus maple syrup and WestJet under fire for flight cancellations: CBC's Marketplace Cheat Sheet

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Passenger sues WestJet after claiming flight was cancelled for "maintenance" | Go Public

Rocky Neufeld had settled into his seat on a WestJet flight from Edmonton to Fort McMurray, Alta., in February 2025 when a gate agent boarded the plane with unexpected news.

"The person said, 'This flight's cancelled,'" recalled the Winnipeg resident. "'We need the tail [aircraft] for another flight.'"

Neufeld and about 10 other passengers were told to get off the plane.

Then came the email.

WestJet told passengers the cancellation was due to "unplanned aircraft maintenance" required for safety.

That did not match what he had just been told on the plane. And it meant WestJet didn’t have to pay compensation.

Under Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR), airlines only have to compensate passengers if a flight is cancelled, delayed or disrupted for reasons within carriers' control. However, if there is a maintenance issue that could impact safety, they don’t have to pay.

One air passenger advocate says cases like Neufeld's are far from isolated.

"Passengers are not getting any meaningful answers," said Gábor Lukács, founder of the non-profit Air Passenger Rights. "I've seen a number of cases where there are very good reasons to doubt the airline's story."

WestJet declined an interview request, did not respond to written questions from Go Public and did not return multiple voicemail messages.

Read more from Go Public’s Erica Johnson and Ana Komnenic.

Radio-Canada's Enquête program has uncovered a major Quebec maple syrup producer selling fake maple syrup in cans on store shelves.

The investigation began by chance, when a Radio-Canada journalist noticed maple syrup he purchased at a grocery store had a strange taste, and he wondered why it tasted off.

Enquête traced the can, which was labelled "pure maple syrup," to a producer based in Saint-Chrysostome in the Montérégie region southwest of Montreal, Steve Bourdeau.

Bourdeau's cans of syrup are identified by his numbered company 9227-8712 Québec inc. Or under the name "Érablière Steve Bourdeau."

Enquête purchased five cans of Bourdeau's syrup at random from different stores and from different batches and took them to the provincial laboratory responsible for testing and assuring quality control for maple syrup in Quebec, le centre ACER, for analysis.

The results were unequivocal. All five cans, each labelled "pure maple syrup," contained at least 50 per cent cane sugar.

"This is the first time I've seen falsification of this kind. You can see that it's outright cane sugar that's been added to the cans," said Luc Lagacé, microbiologist and director of research at ACER.

"This is not an accident. It's deliberate."

Bourdeau said he fully complies with all applicable laws and regulations.

He said he was launching his own investigation to try to determine the source of his falsified syrup and planning on implementing his own inspection system.

Read more from Enquête's Gaétan Pouliot.

Dad speaks out after teen ordered illegal testosterone boosters online

An Ottawa father says he was shocked to discover that his teenage son had ordered banned pharmaceuticals from the internet, and is warning others about websites that he says are putting kids at risk.

The man said he immediately became suspicious when the package arrived by mail in early January.

"We noticed that there was a package coming and my son had indicated that it was private. When it arrived, it had been customs-cleared ... And it sounded like it had liquid in it, and so it raised the flag," the man said.

"Social media is raising the expectations of our children around what they should look like, how big they should be, how strong they should be, how fast they can get to results," he said.

The package that arrived at the family's Ottawa home contained an enclomiphene citrate solution, a drug sometimes used as a testosterone booster but never approved for sale in Canada.

His son had it delivered to his parents' door after ordering it online, paying with a parent's credit card.

The drugs were labelled "research material: not for human consumption," raising more questions.

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Do you know someone who has been hurt by an e-bike or e-scooter? Do you have concerns about e-bikes and e-scooters? If so, we want to hear from you. Email us at marketplace@cbc.ca.

Investigative Journalist

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