Debates of March 5th, 2012

Airline Safety

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we have no problem with having inspections. In fact, we have been asking for more inspections. We have been asking for the hiring of more pilots. The Canadian Federal Pilots Association has documented a big cut in inspections. It is calling for the hiring of more pilots. We note that in this supplementary budget, aviation safety has been cut by $17 million, which is a cut of 7%.

My question to the parliamentary secretary is how many pilots right now are hired to conduct inspections as compared to say, five or ten years ago? I have been told there has been a dramatic decrease. The pilots association is worried that, because it does not have trained staff to do inspections, the safety management system cannot be implemented successfully.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that our job here as parliamentarians and as a government is to deliver the services that people need, in this case civil aviation security, in the most cost effective manner possible. That means from time to time we will find areas where we can deliver the same service but at a lower cost. We do so by eliminating excessive administration, duplication and by driving efficiencies. That is also the case within the area of civil aviation, within the area of security at our airports and in the sky.

We ensure that we deliver the service first and then, second, we find how to deliver that service in the most efficient manner possible. The measure of our achievement is not how much money we spend but whether we keep the Canadian people and international travellers safe when they use the system.

The two goals of our government are security first and then efficiency and we will continue to work within the confines of those goals. So far, I am happy to report to the House, we have been very successful.

[The Acting Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. member for Scarborough—Guildwood is not present to raise the matter for which adjournment notice has been given. Accordingly, the notice is deemed withdrawn.

The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 6:57 p.m.)