For several years, a number of civilian companies have been involved in our flying operations. The situations vary greatly. In some circumstances, civilian organizations provide us with our aircraft. That is the case with Bombardier in Moose Jaw. These companies provide the aircraft and maintain it, whereas on our side, we provide the pilots and train them on the aircraft.
Other civil-military investigations can take place if, for example, a civilian company performs major maintenance work on one of our aircraft and following that an accident occurs. The civilian company is implicated in the probable causes of the accident. We must be able to investigate the civilian company to determine the causes of the accident.
In other cases, for example in Southport, Manitoba, we have aircraft that are subject to a contract between National Defence and a civilian company. They belong to the civilian company and are registered with Transport Canada. They are maintained in accordance with Transport Canada standards, and that department is responsible for certification.
However, use of the aircraft by National Defence is part of a long-term contract and, according to the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act, National Defence is responsible for investigating an accident in which it is involved, provided that the aircraft are used in support of National Defence. So you have an aircraft that is completely regulated by Transport Canada but which is used by National Defence, who becomes responsible for the investigation. In that case, if the accident does not involve another civilian aircraft or a civilian airport, it can be considered purely a military investigation, and the Transportation Safety Board cannot be involved in our investigation. That is where we need to be careful. We do not want to end up with a civilian employee who is afraid of losing his job because he has provided information to the Department of National Defence. We must have the same authority as the Transportation Safety Board to be able to protect the individual. Our goal is not to punish the individual, our goal is always to find the causes of the accident to ensure that there won't be another accident for the same reasons.