Sorry to but in.
I've been reading this thread with interest but I am a bit confused.
If the airline, Thomas Cook, is the entity that is required to pay the compensation, how come it (the compensation) and other service recovery attempts came from the tour operator, Canadian Affair? Or is Canadian Affair an airline, similar to how Travel City Direct was an airline?
This business about having to specifically ask for EU compensation also sounds quite odd. I used to work in customer relations at BA and never heard of such a thing however, I'm no expert on the subject.