When is a law not a law? Well, in employing the best Bill Clinton legalese, we guess it depends on what "is" is. Or was that what "law" is?

Transport Minister John Baird has one of the sharpest tongues in Canadian public life. Woe betide any Liberal, New Democrat or independent civil libertarian who might presume to suggest a statute might be deked around.

It's curious, then, that he has stood by allowing Canadian airlines to wilfully ignore legislation that became law in June 2007. That update to the Canada Transportation Act included a provision that finally forced air carriers to disclose the full price of air travel in advertisements, including taxes, surcharges and other fees.

We read a newspaper or online ad that trumpets a one-way fare somewhere. It looks great, but then when we go to book the flight, we are informed of additional charges that kick the price by hundreds of dollars in some cases, rendering the advertised rates as pure bunk.

Popular online booking services list the full price of travel, information they know their customers value. Why airlines here continue with this charade is puzzling. Why Baird's ministry continues to let it off the hook to the detriment of consumers is irritating.

In fact, the government is still leaning on an (equally maddening) last-minute amendment in the Senate that allowed the provision to be suspended until the government held consultations to prove the measure wouldn't harm domestic airlines.

At any rate, Baird and his confrères haven't moved a muscle to honour the Senate stipulation in 30 months, offering a variety of lame excuses, then simply stating -- in exactly the way it used to ridicule when Liberals did the same -- "propose a study in the new year." What on earth is there left to study?