Finance committee  Good morning. My name is Jerry Dias. I am the national president of Unifor, Canada's largest union in the private sector. We represent over 315,000 working people from coast to coast to coast. Our members work in every sector of the economy and are represented at every income level.

Transport committee  I'm good. Matthew answered it better than I could.

Transport committee  Technology is changing so rapidly. I'm involved in a lot of different industries. Autonomous vehicles, if we're talking about the auto industry, start to transpose that to the aviation sector. I'm a sheet metalworker from Bombardier, but being a sheet metalworker doesn't make me an aviation expert.

Transport committee  One of the things that came out of the rail study, based on Lac-Mégantic, was the reduction of inspectors within Transport Canada. I think we found that there was a dramatic reduction in those who were in place to implement. What ends up happening is that a lot of the policing of the regulations is done internally.

Transport committee  We've spent a lot of time talking about hours. We are talking about fatigue, obviously, and the same holds true whether you are a pilot, a flight attendant, or an air traffic controller. It's how much you can put up with over the course of a day. Do you mind if I try to put it in a different perspective, based on your question?

Transport committee  There's no question that we would support an inquiry because there are a lot of moving parts, as the previous speakers have said. Fatigue is the common word you're going to hear here today because that's the key part if you're talking about safety. Unifor doesn't differentiate between cargo and passenger.

Transport committee  I have four minutes, so you know, it's—

Transport committee  No problem. Okay. Now I've got two sentences left. Why didn't you tell me before?

Transport committee  So it was a test, was it? Okay. Then I have time to go through my recommendations again. They are additional resources for training and professional development, and hiring additional inspectors with appropriate qualifications. Canada needs a strong regulatory system supported by meaningful inspection and robust enforcement to ensure the safety and security of aviation workers, travellers, and the public.

Transport committee  Good afternoon. My name is Jerry Dias and I'm Unifor's national president. With 310,000 members, Unifor is Canada's largest union of the private sector. We represent 12,000 members in the federally regulated aviation industry. I'm pleased to be here today on behalf of those members to discuss aviation safety.