It's obvious that Air Canada is trying to avoid setting precedent for what qualifies for compensation here.

Canada has a foul domestic airline industry. More times than not from what I've looked at and read - it's cheaper to fly domestic in Canada by picking an international flight that has a layover in the USA than it is to fly solely domestic in Canada - with all the extra fees, charges, etc. etc. etc.

Just a side effect of the government and oligopolies in Canada turning the screws trying to extract more and more money out of their citizens.