Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
Like so many Canadian kids, Ben Stelter loved hockey and idolized his favourite players.
What Ben may not have fully realized in life is that those players actually looked up to him.
Back in March, when he was five years old, Ben was introduced at an Oilers game. He was invited to skate with the team before puck drop, and lined up next to them for the national anthem. The professional athletes towered over the tiny skater, even though his opponent was far bigger and scarier than theirs was.
Ben was fighting a form of brain cancer that forced multiple chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
On Wednesday, his father Mike Stelter announced on Twitter that Ben’s battle had ended. He was just six years old.
“Obviously this is a very tough day for the entire Oilers family,” captain Connor McDavid said in a rare summertime virtual press conference that had nothing to do with hockey. “Honestly, Ben meant so much to myself, to my teammates.”
If the tumour caused him any discomfort during the Edmonton Oilers’ deep playoff run this past spring, you couldn’t see it in Ben’s face. His smile, his giggle, and his calls to “play La Bamba, baby” gave the impression of a healthy, young hockey fan.
“I was greatly impressed with the courage of a young man who defined what a bright light was,” said head coach Jay Woodcroft. “Not only did he walk into our dressing room and our arena and light up our team, but I thought he lit up our fan base.”
Ben’s outlook was so positive and so courageous, he became something of a champion for his beloved Oilers. He was invited to team practices and dressing room chats. His words of encouragement and pre-game fist pumps for each player helped drive the team to a 10-game win streak at home. The Oilers reached the Western Conference finals for the first time in 16 years.
“What he went through, you wouldn’t know it by meeting him,” said Oilers forward Zach Hyman. “He’s going to be greatly missed and he’s such an inspiration to all of us. What he went through really puts everything into perspective.”
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
Three officers on a U.S. Marshals Task Force serving a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and five other officers were wounded in a shootout Monday at a North Carolina home, police said.
A Calgary elementary school principal has been charged with possession of child pornography, authorities announced Monday.
The Vancouver Island Health Authority is downplaying what staff describe as a cockroach infestation in a medical unit of Saanich Peninsula Hospital.
Toronto police say 12 people are facing a combined 102 charges in connection with an investigation into a major credit fraud scheme.
One of the winners of a historic US$1.3 billion Powerball jackpot last month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.
Britney Spears and her father Jamie Spears will avoid what could have been a long, ugly and revealing trial with a settlement of the lingering issues in the court conservatorship that controlled her life and financial decisions for nearly 14 years.
The clock is ticking ahead of the deadline to file a 2023 income tax return. A personal finance expert explains why you should get them done -- even if you owe more than you can pay.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.