As Pablo Rodriguez takes the role of transport minister, a raft of turbulent issues remain as the aviation sector emerges from a period of crisis. Rodriguez arrives to a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
OTTAWA – Pablo Rodriguez is set to be sworn in as the new transport minister, taking the baton on a raft of turbulent issues as the aviation sector emerges from a period of crisis.
A manager by training, Rodriguez leaves his spot atop the Heritage Department to take over from Omar Alghabra, who assumed the cabinet post in January 2021 while the pandemic pummelled the travel industry.
Alghabra steered the government through negotiations with airlines on financial aid, COVID-19 testing at airports and a new passenger rights charter.
But with the traveller complaint backlog at a record high topping 52,000, advocates and airlines continue to find fault with parts of the overhauled regime, even as other issues demand attention.
Rodriguez, who was first elected in 2004, will take over on topline items including nascent plans for a high-frequency railway between Toronto and Quebec City, ongoing supply chain hitches and infrastructure vulnerable to natural disasters amid increasingly extreme weather.
Alghabra announced his decision Tuesday not to run in the next election, with the new transport chief set to be sworn in today at Rideau Hall.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2023.
