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Ainda bem que ele cancelou a reunião, porque ia ser uma chatice.

Ainda bem que ele cancelou a reunião, porque ia ser uma chatice.
It is a good thing that he canceled the meeting, because it was going to be an annoyance.
From Lesson 482:Expressing relief (ainda bem que)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about Ainda bem que ele cancelou a reunião, porque ia ser uma chatice.

Why is cancelou in the indicative rather than the subjunctive?
Even though it expresses a positive evaluation ('it is a good thing that'), which normally requires the subjunctive (like with é bom que), ainda bem que is a special exception. It always takes the indicative. That is why we use the normal past tense cancelou instead of the subjunctive cancelasse.
Why use ia ser instead of the conditional seria?
Both mean essentially the same thing here ('would be' or 'was going to be'), but spoken Portuguese strongly prefers the imperfect of ir followed by the infinitive (ia ser) for informal, everyday situations. The conditional seria sounds much more formal.
What exactly does uma chatice mean?
The noun chatice comes from the adjective chato (annoying or boring). It translates nicely to 'an annoyance', 'a bore', or 'a pain in the neck'. The speaker is relieved because the meeting was going to be tedious or frustrating.
Could we use the passive voice here and say foi cancelada?
Absolutely. You could say Ainda bem que a reunião foi cancelada (It is a good thing the meeting was canceled). The original sentence just uses the active voice (ele cancelou) to specify who canceled it. Both correctly use the indicative mood after ainda bem que.

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