Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to thank Mr. Bachrach for introducing his motion. I feel that the issue it raises is important: should there be a public inquiry into this matter? I will not hide from members of this committee the fact that I was not really satisfied by the answers provided on the Canadian certification process.
In fact, I have been very concerned with this kind of complicity or lack of will to dig deeper, especially after the revelations we have heard. I was very disappointed to see no concern and no will to change the process. That worries me greatly because, if the Americans, or any other nation, send us a lemon, we are going to approve it, do two or three little tests, take one flight in it, and that will be that.
Knowing what I know now, I am having a really hard time saying that we are doing this matter justice and handling it responsibly. I am thinking of the victims who came here to the committee, who touched me greatly, and who are still grieving. It is impossible for us to fail to ask more questions.
So I am very sympathetic to the motion introduced by Mr. Bachrach for those reasons. I would like to have seen a sincere will to reform or question the current process, which, in my opinion, has problems. Pilots submitted reports. They weren't critical reports, but the fact remains that some critical systems—new systems—were not tested. It seems to me that there were shortcomings in some respects. Perhaps I am mistaken, but an inquiry would allow us to find out whether I am mistaken, whatever my intuition tells me. If our process is actually too sloppy as well, we become as responsible as the original authority.
I feel that it is important for us not to be complicit with the authorities, especially following experiences that tell us that we should be more vigilant.