Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for the opportunity to participate in the deliberations on Bill C-6, amendments to the Aeronautics Act.
As we all know, this bill has been around for quite a while, and Transport Canada has in effect been acting as if the legislation were already in place. If you sense a degree of frustration in my voice, you're probably reading me correctly.
The Union of Canadian Transportation Employees represents the vast majority of inspectors who are responsible for ensuring that Canada's airlines and airports are safe and the rules are obeyed. UCTE members are fulfilling the obligations of the government as embodied in the responsibilities of the Minister of Transport, as clearly articulated in the Aeronautics Act. In section 4.2 of the act, the responsibilities of the minister are clearly laid out in more than a page of dense print. Section 4.2 begins as follows:
The Minister is responsible for the development and regulation of aeronautics and the supervision of all matters connected with aeronautics
There are about 12 specific functions identified following these general obligations, but the two I would like to emphasize are to “investigate, examine and report on the operation and development of commercial air services in, to or from Canada”; and “investigate matters concerning aviation safety”.
So the minister clearly has the responsibility for regulation, supervision, investigation, and reporting of all aviation matters in Canada. UCTE members perform these functions and are accountable to the minister and the government for the discharge of these responsibilities.
The question I would ask, and that you as legislators must carefully consider, is whether the responsibilities of the minister are discharged appropriately and in the public interest through the designation process, through the management system delegation process, and through the disclosure and confidentiality waivers that are the cornerstones of Bill C-6 that you are considering here today.
We certainly do not believe that ministerial responsibilities can be exercised through approval of these provisions in Bill C-6. We believe that by approving these amendments the Crown is exposing itself and the public to unsafe aviation and air transportation outcomes. We believe that the minister cannot effectively discharge his or her obligations through the extent of delegation to the carrier community that is sanctioned in this bill.
AIl political parties in the House of Commons supported the Federal Accountability Act. We do not believe that the principles enunciated in the new Federal Accountability Act can be accommodated through the non-disclosure and Access to Information Act exemptions that are proposed to be provided to airlines and their associations through this bill.
How are the Federal Accountability Act principles protected and represented by a bill that permits airlines to keep a serious safety and security breach from being disclosed to the public? How can the public be assured that the minister is discharging his or her obligations when there is no accountability for that disclosure? Does this not fly in the face of the FAA and everything it stands for? Does this not fly in the face of the responsibilities of the minister and the government that are clearly articulated in the foundations of the Aeronautics Act itself?
It is a well-known fact that the whole plan being implemented through this legislation is really about saving the number of government inspectors and presumably saving money for Transport Canada in the process. It is also what we consider to be a substitute for a proper human resource and training plan for the aviation inspectorate, particularly in light of the demographics of the inspectorate community. Obviously, existing and future UCTE members are negatively affected by this approach, and our interests clearly conflict with those espoused in Bill C-6.
At the same time, we are not convinced that aviation and public safety are matters that belong on the government balance sheet, nor can safety be compromised at all, given the clear responsibilities of the government with regard to aviation safety.
We would go so far as to suggest that this approach has become a substitute for proper and judicious management of the inspectorate function. And don't just take my word for it. We would encourage you to seek out the informed views of experts such as retired Alberta Justice Virgil Moshansky, a man who has extensively studied the aviation safety and management system impacts following the 1989 Air Ontario Dryden crash and who has subsequently given public statements, speeches, and interviews since. Justice Moshansky has been widely quoted over the years, but I would direct you to a series of excellent articles in the Toronto Star from June of 2006. In one of those articles, the justice is quoted as follows:
I am skeptical whether 'partner relationships'...are in the best interests of aviation safety. It is possible if they get too cozy, they'll maybe let things slip by.
Justice Moshansky has always said that a healthy and independent inspectorate is essential to aviation safety. We couldn't agree more. UCTE and other organizations representing pilots and other airline workers have presented, and will present further to you on Bill C-6. There will be some consistency of views in these presentations.
Government officials and airlines will present a countervailing perspective. It is up to you, as legislators, to determine what is in the public interest, but I would ask you to consider the following recommendations in light of the public interest. Remember that we are talking about the safety of the public when they fly in airplanes in Canada. Remember that no amount of delegation of system management will replace ministerial and government responsibilities and accountability. The government is responsible and accountable, and that's the end of the story. So we'd ask you, please, to consider these recommendations in this light.
The government process of designating external organizations is being increasingly practised but usually in areas where the implications are not that great and where the entire functions are being transferred to an outside body and where that body has no responsibilities except for those quasi-judicial regulatory functions.
In this instance, however, the government is proposing to designate external organizations to monitor compliance with its own rules and standards when the organization may have conflicting roles and accountabilities. We fail to see how this is consistent and even allowed under the Statutory Instruments Act, but we would also say that it completely contravenes any standards of accountability that are now part of government policy and legislation. We would recommend removal of the “designated organization” sections of Bill C-6.
Accountability and responsibility absolutely require that inspection reports and safety violations be made public. We would recommend the removal of all provisions that permit non-disclosure of inspection reports and self-reported safety violations. This recommendation would apply to all permissive non-disclosure, including sections 5.392, management systems exemption; 5.393, data flight recorder exemption; and 5.395, voluntary reporting exemption.
Thirdly, if safety system management structures are to be encouraged and permitted, there must be a system of continuous improvement built into the entire accountability structure.
It is impossible to have a well-functioning and continuously improving system that does not have effective external checks and balances and redresses for those errors and omissions uncovered by the external checks and balances. In this respect, we would recommend that all inspection and self-reporting disclosures be available to the public and that whistle-blowing protections be introduced into the statute.
Employees of airlines and airports should have the inherent ability to report safety infractions to Transport Canada inspectors without fear of reprisals from their employers or its agents. Additionally, along as SMS structures are encouraged and permitted, there should be more independent safety audits subject to disclosure.
All these recommendations would combine and bring together a process that has a chance to continuously improve.
Finally, the Canada Labour Code provides for a series of important workers' rights that apply to all federally regulated institutions, including airlines. The code provides employee protections for unsafe working conditions and enshrines employees' right to know workplace hazards. For employees who work in the airline world, knowing their work environment is as safe as it can be is an important worker right.
The conflicts between the employee protections articulated in the code and the “designated organization” and “management systems” delegation proposals in Bill C-6 are very profound. We already are seeing the erosion of Canada Labour Code rights with SMS structures now in place. We believe that the primacy of the Canada Labour Code should be codified in Bill C-6 and the Aeronautics Act.
I hope that you find our positions and recommendations are in the public interest. That interest is to protect the travelling public in Canada and to exercise the responsibilities and authorities given to the government and the Minister of Transport in a responsible, transparent, and accountable manner. We believe our recommendations are entirely consistent with that principle, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.