691 Canadians who wanted out of hurricane-struck Caribbean are home: minister
The federal government wants to learn lessons from its efforts to evacuate Canadians from the hurricane-ravaged Caribbean but stopped short Tuesday of apologizing to complaining travellers over how it handled the disaster.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said she personally greeted a flight of returning Canadian passengers at Toronto’s Pearson Airport on Monday night, and spoke with several passengers there and by phone. She gave them a letter soliciting feedback on how the government handled the emergency.
“I said in the note — I think my words were — I was very sorry for their ordeal, which I am. It was a very, very difficult experience for people,” Freeland said Tuesday at the cabinet retreat in St. John’s, N.L., with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
She also noted: “as the prime minister likes to say: better is always possible.”