As a travel agent in the UK, I have worked on the basis that the low-cost carriers are robbing passengers by refusing to refund taxes and charges for services that will not be used.
The IATA carriers - for want of a better description - have always, to the best of my knowledge, refunded unused taxes and that proceedure has always been followed by the companies for which I have worked.
The LoCos have always insisted that they will not refund these fees, and yet these are charges that will not be paid by the airline for THAT passenger. Of course by making their fares non-refundable, these airlines have discouraged anybody from cancelling a booking - in fact, do easyJet and Ryanair etc have a facility to actually cancel a booking? The end result must be a number of 'noshows'.
Whilst not being too hopeful, I would like to believe that the Canadian ruling may start to have an effect in the European Market. At least if I book on British Airways at a low price and then cancel, there is a good chance that I will get about 50pc or more of my cost back.