Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you for being with us today, Mr. Moshansky.
I would like to come back to your recommendation that there be a nation-wide investigation in order to determine the problems that exist at present in the aviation sector, particularly with regard to safety. I would first of all like to know why you are making such a recommendation.
I would like to tell you a little story. It is not so long ago that NAV Canada took over air traffic control. In my area, there is a regional airport. It serves as an alternate airport for the Northeast of the United States. Two or three years ago, you could do an instrument landing there. Today, the air carriers are telling us that they can no longer do instrument landings at that airport because they have modernized their equipment whereas NAV Canada has not done so. Planes can therefore no longer do instrument landings at that alternate airport serving the Northeastern region of the United States, the Maritimes, the North as well as airplanes coming from Gander.
I advised the minister of the situation. We have a serious problem. I believe that with regard to safety, this is the type of problem that must be looked at. On top of the issues you have mentioned, there is the safety of the airplanes themselves.
If I understood you correctly, each airport and each air carrier will be equipping itself with a different system. There will therefore be no standard safety management system. If Transport Canada does not carry out the necessary inspections to ensure consistency amongst all airports and the same type of auditing by all air carriers, then the type of problem I have just told you about will spread.
I would like to know, beyond the implementation of safety management systems, what motivates you today to recommend a nation-wide investigation into the safety of air transportation.