Thank you for the opportunity.
The Canadian Owners and Pilots Association, or COPA, represents general aviation in the country. It has 17,000 members across the country. It's not the organization of the airlines or of the scheduled air transportation system, but anything other than that. It is general aviation. That's who we represent. It's the smaller aircraft. It could be business or it could be outfitters up north or in different places. It's the general aviation portion of what's happening in the transportation system in Canada.
We're also part of the 75-member International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations around the world. We have a seat at the International Civil Aviation Organization, or ICAO, representing general aviation, so we have someone in Montreal in this context.
We have done some representation at ICAO already concerning general aviation and what we feel about what are called remotely piloted aircraft, or RPAs, or UAVs, or UAS, as they take all these different acronyms. We've done some lobbying with ICAO already, saying that there are some items we're really pushing for. We have four of these items.
One is that we should be able to share the sky without added equipage in our aircraft in the present fleet. In other words, manned aircraft should not have to get some new stuff on board to avoid and to be able to fly with the RPAs or the UAVs.
Another one is that we shouldn't have any NOTAM, which is a notice to airmen. It's sort of a memo out there. We shouldn't have any NOTAMed airspace. Doing so signifies that general aviation and UAVs together are a danger. A NOTAM is a notice for something specific happening. If the airspace is NOTAMed, saying we should watch out, that there's a UAV there, there are going to be NOTAMs all over the country. We couldn't live with this. There has to be no specific NOTAM.
No additional airspace should be set aside in the country for UAVs, except obviously for training and testing purpose, such as the one in Alberta right now. I know there's one in Alma, near Lac Saint-Jean, in Quebec. There are some areas, but there should be no additional airspace set aside for that. We have to cohabit.
Obviously UAVs and RPAs are getting big. In a few years they may be even more numerous than aircraft themselves. We will have to share the skies.
Also, we put the onus and the responsibility to detect and avoid—or sense and avoid, as we may call it—on the RPAs. We have eyeball one and two to see outside, and we have onboard systems in the aircraft with which we can see, with collision avoidance systems of some type. However, the RPAs or UAVs themselves have to be able to detect and avoid.
Those are the four points that we have given to ICAO.
COPA has already responded to a notice of proposed amendment for UAVs that Transport Canada put out last year, in 2015. We do have a few proposals. My colleague mentioned a few that were put out by ALPA. We also put out a few. Obviously we agree on many of them.
One is that we should link all the UAVs out there to someone through a registration. It cannot be anonymous. Whoever has one, whether it's a small toy or a bigger one, should be linked to it. It should be registered.
Education is also an important part. Everyone has to be educated on what they can do with their UAV or RPA. We're also asking that there be no sales out there without a proof-of-competency card. We're asking that the Best Buys and the Future Shops of the world do not sell any of them without one. Even over the counter, there should be a competency proof. Someone has to show that they know what the rules are. We will be living together in that world.
Right now, we feel at COPA that there's a lack of information out there. Even with over-the-counter sales, we've tested a few, and people say, “No, just go on the Transport website.” That's not enough. I even have a magazine here saying that you should be looking at the Transport website, but it doesn't say more than that. There's a lack of information out there.
Right now, we have to see the UAV. Obviously before we move to going beyond the visual line of sight, the technology will have to be foolproof. We're asking for that, and we agree with ALPA on that.