I think you are stretching things to turn this into a safety issue in relation to the toilets. By the same logic, if the cleaners who clean the airplane on turn around forgot to empty the trash out of seatpocket, would you question the safety of the airline?
The question of staff is a bit more complex. I don't know the precise rules relating to legal staff hours in Canada, but the way it works in most juridictions there is an allowance for exceptional situations and delays. So for example, let's say there was a maximum 14 hour rule for cabin crew. Most jurisdictions may then have a "discretion" rule, which would allow the cabin crew to extend, say up to 18 hours. The discretion rule means that the airline could not compel them to do so, but they could choose to do so at their own discretion. This sounds like what may have happened here. 10 exercised their discretion to avoid inconveniencing the passengers and 4 did not. I would suggest that this is worthy of praise for the Air Canada staff rather than criticism.
Having said that.. as aircraft are increasingly capable of very long haul operations, they often carry two crews for flying and schedule in rest for the cabin crew, with a designated rest area. This may have been the case here. However, the pressure on shorter haul flight crew to maximise the use of the aircraft increasingly means pilots and cabin crew are working very long hours. In Europe for example, pilots are legally able to work significantly longer hours than truck, bus or train drivers. Although there are two of them, the workload pressures are enormous and fatigue poses an increasing risk. The Colgan accident may be the wake up call we need to address some of these issues.
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