Government Operations committee  We don't have the power to make binding recommendations. We do make a compelling argument using data from our investigations and our recommendations to convince people of the need for change. This is the model that's been used in all developed countries, including the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.K.

Government Operations committee  I know that the railway industry is under the safety management system regulations and that they can be, under any regulations, subject to enforcement action by Transport Canada. Transport Canada is in a better position than we are to answer you on what they're doing specifically in terms of issuing fines or notices to the railways.

Government Operations committee  Transport Canada had delegated the responsibility for oversight of the business aviation sector to an industry association back in 2003. Following an investigation that the TSB conducted, and recommendations we made in 2009, Transport Canada decided to take back responsibility for oversight of the business aviation sector.

Government Operations committee  Transport Canada suspended planned surveillance, in other words, pre-announced inspections. It would respond based on risk indicators, including incidents and accidents, and it would conduct follow-up inspections or audits following that. Since then, most recently in March, Transport Canada briefed the Transportation Safety Board that it is reinstating planned surveillance, in other words, pre-announced surveillance, in addition to reactive surveillance of the business aviation sector.

Government Operations committee  You need a combination of both, announced and unannounced, and Transport Canada has, in the past, done both. We're talking about proactive surveillance, going in and doing an inspection and audit of the company's systems, its compliance with regulations and ability to manage safety, as opposed to reactively, after an incident or an accident, when it may be too late.

Government Operations committee  We don't have that level of detail. Transport Canada would be in a better position to respond. We know that there are between 600 and 700 business aviation registered operators, and Transport Canada has indicated that they intend to start with proactive, planned surveillance of those companies this year, but I don't have the exact number as to how many they're planning to do.

Government Operations committee  Each item on the watch-list is supported by our investigations' outstanding recommendations. Since we initiated the watch-list in 2010, a number of issues in rail, in marine, and in air have been removed from the watch-list as action has been taken. Other new issues have emerged and have been added, so we currently have three issues in air, one in marine, four in rail, and then two multimodal issues that we are working on.

Government Operations committee  On rail, there are four watch-list issues. Some of them are related to the Lac-Mégantic investigation, so they came on the watch-list in 2014 or 2016. Following signal indications has been on the watch-list since 2012. Some of the air ones have been on longer, since 2010, such as the risk of collision on the ground and the risk of runway overrun.

Government Operations committee  Previous investigations done by the Transportation Safety Board looked at the question of safety oversight, safety management on the part of operators, and safety oversight on the part of Transport Canada. In particular that came out of our investigation into an Ornge air ambulance helicopter crash back in 2013.

Government Operations committee  That reference is particular to the issue of our outstanding recommendations. The board has issued almost 600 recommendations since we were created in 1990. The Minister of Transport, when the recommendations are directed to that department, has 90 days to respond. The department always responds.

Government Operations committee  They're very short.

Government Operations committee  Good morning. Mr. Chair, honourable members, thank you for inviting the Transportation Safety Board of Canada to appear today. I have two colleagues with me. Monsieur Jean Laporte is our Chief Operating Officer. I am also accompanied by Luc Cassault, our Director General and Chief Financial Officer.

Government Operations committee  When an occurrence happens, we make a preliminary assessment as to whether we're going to conduct a full investigation or not. We want to make sure that we're going to spend those resources wisely in conducting a full investigation. We collect data, we analyze the data, we write a report, and we publish it.

Government Operations committee  We would like to see higher numbers. If we look by mode, we've issued about 20 recommendations in pipeline, and 100% of those have been addressed. In rail and marine, we're in the mid to high 80% that have been addressed. Aviation is lagging at around the low sixties. That's the area where we're trying to get more attention, either from the regulator or from industry, because industry can take steps to address these recommendations without waiting for the regulator to act.

Government Operations committee  That is correct, but I would make a distinction here between an accident and an incident or occurrence. We also investigate occurrences where safety might have been at risk but it didn't necessarily culminate in an accident. In the example of two aircraft that came closer together than they should have, we would investigate that, but there was no accident.