Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Minister, I tend to believe that you are a man of good will. However, you do not have control over all the services provided by your department. This is where we have some reservations. When the International Civil Aviation Organization representative came to speak with us, he said he had done an audit in 2005. So, you are right on that point.
However, with respect to regulatory oversight and inspection, clearly, according to these people, you must maintain the same inspection regime you've always had. When they hear that the inspection regime may be scaled back they start asking questions. I believe the next audit will be quite a bit harsher than the last. And that's fine by us.
However, Mr. Moshansky said—and figures would tend to support him—that there were 1,400 inspectors before 1992. Indeed, when the Liberals took office they reduced that number to 870. Withabout 870 inspectors, you are in compliance. The Liberals are the ones who reduced the number of inspectors.
At a safety and security convention, Mr. Preuss declared that by 2013 half of the inspection services would be reduced by attrition and that there would be fewer resources earmarked for regulatory enforcement. At the time we already believed that there would be fewer resources and that that would effectively lead to fewer inspections. Moreover, the 870 remaining inspectors are not all check pilots. In 1993, there were 450 of them. Today there are 400 of them. If, by 2013, you cut the inspection services by half, there will be fewer and fewer check pilots. That is why companies like DaxAir Inc., and even ICAO safety representatives, are of the view that we should not decrease the regulatory oversight program, the inspection service.
With respect to Mr. Preuss, he repeats his rhetoric, but at the same time, he pressures witnesses not to appear before the committee. You may choose to put up with him, but as far as I'm concerned it's a problem.