Transport Committee on June 3rd, 2014

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

All are certified. So WestJet has never sought certification to carry dangerous goods?

[Capt Scott Wilson]

Not at this time. We continue to monitor it.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Okay.

On the 1:40 to 1:50 flight attendant ratio question, a lot of Canadians are concerned and they're confused. Many of them who sit in emergency exits don't understand why they're being asked to pay a premium for the privilege of assisting. They pay more for the privilege of assisting if there's a problem. A lot of people have raised that with me.

I want to raise with you a juxtaposition here. How much will each of your companies save financially moving from 1:40 to 1:50?

Mr. Wilson, starting with you, perhaps you could give a number.

[Capt Scott Wilson]

I don't have a number directly in front of me, sir. Again, my responsibilities are about the safety of the airline.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Does anybody here have a number? Air Canada? No? You don't know what you're going to save?

Okay.

Can you comment on the fact that Canadians are now taking five million flights a year from United States airports? That number is going up 10% to 15% each and every year under the Conservative government. This is, of course, having a major economic boom effect for U.S. airports.

Why is that happening?

[Marc-André O'Rourke]

Absolutely. We could actually have a whole day on that.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Sure.

What can we do to actually arrest this trend?

[Marc-André O'Rourke]

We can look at the way we treat the sector.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Mr. Chair, on a point of order, it's an interesting economic question, but this committee has been convened to deal with safety issues—

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Absolutely, Mr. Chair.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

—safety management systems and the transportation of dangerous goods. I don't see an obvious link to that, but maybe Mr. McGuinty would like to get to that, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

No, neither do I.

Continue. You just have 40 seconds left, Mr. McGuinty.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

I'll provide the link, Mr. Chair, if you wish.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

If you can do that, certainly.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Absolutely. There's a connection between consumers' choices in terms of where they fly and their perception of safety. There are all kinds of links. If Mr. Watson wants to explore those, we can do that online or offline; it's up to him.

But I think it's a very important question, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

You still haven't linked it, but...

[Marc-André O'Rourke]

Let's be clear, though, about the suggestion that Canadians are going to U.S. airports because of safety. It's a cost issue, so that has to be perfectly clear. We can reconvene on that if you prefer, but there's no suggestion that people are going for cheaper fares because of safety.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

Thank you very much.

Is it Mr. Watson or Mr. Komarnicki?

Mr. Watson.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Rourke, for the clarification on that particular point.

Canadian aviation regulations compel your companies to conduct risk assessments and submit them to Transport Canada. I see some heads nodding.

[Capt Jacques Mignault]

Absolutely.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

There's also a written record that needs to be incorporated here. That's why I'm asking the question.

[Capt Jacques Mignault]

Every time there's a change, we are required to do a safety case internally and present that.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

How do they define that change? At what point is it a...? Is it every minor change or major?

[Capt Jacques Mignault]

No, no.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

How do the regulations determine it's a change that—for the public who are listening—requires a risk assessment?