Transport minister under scrutiny after wife’s run-in at Wpg. airport
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/03/2012 (5268 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
WINNIPEG — Transport Minister Steve Ashton’s wife is being investigated as a possible threat to air safety after an incident also raising questions about whether the senior cabinet minister acted inappropriately.
The Free Press has learned Ashton’s wife, Hari Dimitrakopoulou-Ashton, was detained by Winnipeg police last week at Richardson International Airport after a run-in with Calm Air employees. After police allowed her to call her husband, the cabinet minister rushed to the airport and then reportedly began throwing his weight around after gaining access to the airport’s emergency operations centre.
Police were initially called to the Calm Air boarding area at Gate 21 by employees concerned about Dimitrakopoulou-Ashton’s behaviour. She was one of several passengers on flight 501 to Thompson that had been cancelled several hours before because of freezing rain conditions in Thompson. The flight was supposed to have taken off at 7 a.m on March 17.
Officers met with two Calm Air employees who said they had been dealing with Dimitrakopoulou-Ashton for a couple of hours and that they, “had reached a point where they felt they had to call police,” a source said.
“This lady comes up and says she’s Steve Ashton’s wife. The airline knows her quite well. The agents described her as being demeaning. She basically told them they’re incompetent and that they’re only there to look pretty.”
Dimitrakopoulou-Ashton also demanded vouchers for food and drink, but the agents told her no vouchers would be handed out because the cancellation was weather-related.
Because of her behaviour, Calm Air staff decided not to allow Dimitrakopoulou-Ashton to board the next available flight.
Dimitrakopoulou-Ashton was temporarily detained by officers with the police service’s airport unit after she refused to identify herself, according to police sources. Dimitrakopoulou-Ashton was not charged, but released into the care of her husband.
But questions remain about how exactly Ashton dealt with the matter and how he was able to enter the airport’s emergency operations centre when he arrived.
» Winnipeg Free Press