I don’t believe that you can. These 1 minute charges are placeholders for any sort of use, including outgoing SMS, accepting a call (including voicemail), or data use.

The folowing article breaks down fully what usage will invoke roaming charges:

Are there certain charges that you’re disputing that you had any usage of for ingoing/outgoing calls, voicemail, outgoing SMS, data after reviewing the dates and the usage logs of your phone?

Yes indeed Canadian roaming options for nearly all carriers are expensive compared to most other countries. Hopefully it improves. Some carriers have better roaming options in Canada, and of course there’s the esim app companies that let you get phone plans for any country that are rapidly growing popular.

There are 4-5  x $16 charges! 
I have taken my phone off of flight mode only to check for one time bank codes and such. 
should a text message case $16 ever? Do we live in times of Alexander graham  Bell?!

You were not charged for incoming SMS. That is always free. Is your data roaming turned off? It sounds like it’s not and your phone used some data as soon as you took it off flight mode.

Reading through the FAQ shared by Goran above will help you understand how and why you were charged. 

With a UK phone they can travel to 70 counties use the same minutes and data check it out! 

As far as I know, we’re not part of the EU and all the benefits it comes with regarding carrier pros and cons. We’re starting to see this in Canada with US and Mexico. Hopefully EU will be included.

Hi @RoamingChargeIsTheft 

We have reviewed the details, and there is usage for voicemail and outgoing texts, which triggered the roaming charges.

We recommend checking the article shared by Goran above to find out more about how to prevent unwanted roaming charges.

You try to keep explaining it. There’s no explanation for a 1 minute call, text, voice mail to cost $16!

I’m not sure it’s Kodoos fault.

I tell u Canadian telecom is decades behind the world! 
These charges used to appear on phone bills in years past but no longer do. Trust me, I’ve been outside the cave!

Trust me, I’ve been outside and as much as I don’t like how telcos in Canada do business and agree with you, it’s clear that if you use your phone outside of Canada, it’s considered roaming and you’ll pay the price.

If you’re looking to avoid roaming charges altogether, simply turn data and data roaming OFF in your mobile device’s settings and refrain from making calls (including voicemail), answering calls and sending any outgoing texts. 

The explanation is very simple. Koodo is charging what it can. I certainly will agree that the Canadian telecom landscape has numerous issues. Easy roam is a good idea for people who need to use their canadian number for some days. But the prices have continued to rise, as well as the maximum monthly charge for easy roam. There was a possibility of getting something refunded if it was some tiny data use that was barely over the buffer, but calls and outgoing SMS isn’t something that’s gonna be rebated I don’t think.

It’s up to the individual to protect themselves most from extra charges. Roaming is exorbitant in general. In partiular with Canadian telecoms. Especially if Canada is behind by decades, it behooves you to watch out carefully.

It’s impossible to protect yourself.  Their practices should be illegal. 
Data roaming has been off the whole time and phone on airplane mode .

Data roaming wasn’t what caused the charges, but outgoing SMS/texts and calling voicemail were what triggered it the four times.