Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to all of you for attending today.
I listened intently to Mr. Benson as he spoke to the bill. What pops out again, and this has popped out before at this committee, are the words “deregulation” and “self-regulation”. I know that Transport Canada and the minister have gone to great pains to emphasize that this isn't self-regulation or deregulation. To me, self-regulation implies a wholesale abdication of responsibility and accountability on the minister's part.
I'm assuming that all of you have read the bill. I'm assuming that all of you have read, or at least fully understand, the contents of the Aeronautics Act and how the bill and that act work together now to improve safety in the air.
I'll just throw this out to you. Do you see this as being a bill that moves the industry to self-regulation, or do you see this more as a new layer of safety being imposed upon an existing regulatory structure?