Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I appreciate the committee having this discussion about my motion. As a way of speaking to why I feel the motion is advisable, I want to address a few of the points raised by my colleagues.
Ms. Jaczek mentioned that she feels that the committee has enough information, but I want to make it clear that the public inquiry is not about satisfying the needs of the committee; the inquiry is about satisfying the needs of all Canadians. On Tuesday, we heard testimony from Mr. Njoroge and Mr. Moore that, frankly, I found gut-wrenching. They obviously have not gotten the answers they need. I just feel that it behooves us as a committee to do what we can to help them get the answers and the closure they need. Frankly, as Mr. Barsalou-Duval alluded to in his remarks, I don't believe the committee has received satisfactory answers to all our questions. There are questions about this process, about the way that Canada certified or validated the certification of these aircraft, that remain outstanding. That is why I think a public inquiry is the right thing to do. This motion simply calls on the government to put such an inquiry in place.
The other point, made by my colleague Ms. Kusie, was around the timing of the inquiry and the fact that, in her view, it is premature to go to an inquiry. With all due respect, I understand this is a very difficult time for our country, but right now our government is in the process of returning these airplanes to the sky. Just on November 18, Minister Garneau said that he expects the validation process to conclude “very soon”. Therefore, time is of the essence, and this type of thing is very timely, because these airplanes before too long could be back in the skies and people are going to be wondering if they're safe to fly on. We heard from our witness, the independent engineer, on Tuesday, and he disagrees. He doesn't think they are safe.
It's an issue on which Canadians deserve answers, and I believe a public inquiry will have powers to find those answers that go beyond the powers of this committee.
We asked for Boeing to appear before us and answer our questions on the Canadian context and how what has happened in the United States affects our validation and to get answers for Canadian citizens, and they haven't appeared before the committee. I think that's something that an inquiry would be able to get answers on.
I'll end my comments there, and I appreciate the time to discuss my motion.
Thank you.