That's a really interesting problem, the one you just mentioned--and thank you for raising it--the issue of health-related problems in certain industries where safety is paramount.
You may know that in the United States, older American pilots are fighting for the ability to work past the age of 60. I imagine that will be the case in Canada as well. The United States Pilots Association has brought this up many times, that the medical evidence isn't there to suggest that pilots at age 65 or 70 really are unsafe. One of the most interesting aspects of this question, for example, is that sudden heart attack, the kind of thing that we think about hitting someone, is much more common in the 40 to 50 age group than it is for those over 65 years of age. Of course, with pilots, and so forth, there are lengthy medical examinations. This isn't my area of expertise, I have to admit, but certainly the things I've read would suggest that it's likely the retirement age for pilots will rise to at least age 65.
Some of the arguments I made earlier also apply to pilots in the sense of, do we really want to get rid of our most experienced pilots, the ones who have accumulated so many air miles, or miles in the air?
I'm sorry, I have air miles on my mind now. I just went to Italy and I want to go back.
Certainly they've accumulated a great amount of experience, which to me seems to be lost when they're taken out of service.
Generally speaking, I don't think the evidence is there in almost any other industry to indicate that people over the age of 65 suffer from terrible detriments that require them to leave their jobs.