Transport Committee on Dec. 7th, 2011

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I am one of the people who knew you in the past. I am very happy to see you in this position.

Since we have already discussed budgets, I will talk to you about matters more specifically related to your department, if I may.

The Supreme Court has already ruled that, in the case of establishing airports in Quebec, for instance, Transport Canada's authority takes precedence over the Quebec Land Use Planning and Development Act. There is currently a controversial case in Neuville, in the Quebec City region. People actually don't want an airport to be built.

Could you explain to us what the policy is? The minister has the authority to get involved in those kinds of cases. Is that how it works when it comes to the establishment of an airport?

What kind of guidelines can Transport Canada set if public consultations are to be held on this topic?

[Yaprak Baltacioglu]

Mr. Chair, I am very familiar with that case.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

That is why I asked you the question.

[Yaprak Baltacioglu]

Thank you for that.

The minister, Mr. Lebel, asked us the exact same questions. We are currently working on that matter.

I'll do this in English, because I don't know the legal terms.

Under the Aeronautics Act, our mandate, our jurisdiction, is very broad, and it's all-encompassing.

The issue is airports, aerodromes, and airstrips. There are thousands of aerodromes in Canada. Some are licensed ones, such as airports. That's a big chunk. Then there are the registered ones. The registered ones would be those aerodromes that publicize that they are open for business so that others can use them. Then there are the non-registered aerodromes, which are for personal use, which we don't.... There are thousands and thousands of those.

Our mandate today, the way our department has interpreted it through our regulations, is mainly the safety elements. This particular case is more an issue of acceptance by a town. I understand that there are concerns in the community.

Our minister, the moment this issue came to his attention, asked us to look at it. I don't have a good enough answer for you or my minister yet, but we're working on it.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

You're working on it.

[Yaprak Baltacioglu]

It's a priority for the minister.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Maybe you should explain to us, then, consultation. Frankly, I believe that he has the jurisdiction to do something about it.

[Yaprak Baltacioglu]

We have jurisdiction overall. The Aeronautics Act says yes, there is jurisdiction. Whether you have regulations to deal with a particular situation—

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

The devil is in the details.

[Yaprak Baltacioglu]

The devil is the details. Exactly.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

What would be appropriate would be to explain to us what the role of Transport Canada should be, then, vis-à-vis the consultation. What would you do? Would you go there with your official or the minister? Would you talk with the constituents?

[Yaprak Baltacioglu]

As I said, our minister asked us to look into it. Clearly, we're looking at it, because I know quite a lot about this. I don't really have an answer for you yet, because I would like to speak to our minister.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

I'm not asking specifically about that issue. I am asking about your role afterwards.

If, for example, you say that you have to do something about it, do you discuss it with the mayor or your official in a general manner? How do you manage? What's next?

[Yaprak Baltacioglu]

What's next is what we're working on.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

That's it.

Okay.

I also want to talk about the inspectors working at Transport Canada. How many inspectors are there currently?

We heard about the infamous aircraft that have spent only 300 hours in the air and are being used to train inspectors. It's a matter of calibrating instruments and equipment.

How many inspectors are currently undergoing training?

[Yaprak Baltacioglu]

Thank you very much for the question.

We have 881 inspector positions in aviation safety.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Okay.

[Yaprak Baltacioglu]

Of those, 300 of them are what we called AOs, which is a classification for pilots, so 300 of our inspectors are pilots.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Okay, but when you train them, do you have to go through our own fleet--

[Yaprak Baltacioglu]

This question has....

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

--or it's just simulators?

[Yaprak Baltacioglu]

No. The proficiency of pilots is done in two ways. One of them is what we call the alternative, which is using the simulators, etc., and then the other one is in the planes. However we train our pilots, they still need to fly in an airplane every.... I don't know the interval, but a certain time. Just using a simulator won't be enough for them to keep their certification.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

So what about those 300 hours? What are we doing with those...?

[Yaprak Baltacioglu]

I think that in Transport, because we have these planes and they have been using simulators when the inspector's job doesn't involve actual flying...they don't need that much; they'll keep it updated. But certain other inspectors fly to keep their licences. They also fly to the areas where the aerodromes are or to places you were talking about. They fly there and then they fly back, etc.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

One of my concerns is that it's not the same thing to go through a simulator as through the real thing.