Transport committee  I applauded the minister yesterday for saying they're going to hire more and do more. That's a step in the right direction and we applaud him for that. But I don't know how many, sir.

Transport committee  I would like to comment on what was said. First, I said we're utilizing Transport Canada. We are partners in safety at the airlines where our members work, but we utilize Transport Canada as a user rather than as a partner. Our members get their licences from Transport Canada.

Transport committee  Sir, that's not what I said. I never said that.

Transport committee  On issues of safety, we're there. On SMS, we're not saying to throw it out. On the numbers of inspectors, by doing the additional inspections, I don't know how many people that would take, sir.

Transport committee  There's a return to the person who made the report, because their name is stripped off. It's the same as what happens with SECURITAS at the Transportation Safety Board. They return a report to the individual on the outcome of the investigation. They will advise the interested p

Transport committee  Under SMS, they can make a report to their company. The best example I can think of where we have something that functions like this is, again, at Nav Canada, which is the air navigation operator, where an individual can file a confidential report. Their name is stripped off the

Transport committee  We don't have access to the statistics from Transport Canada as to how many inspections should be done--how many unannounced inspections or any of that. As Richard said earlier, the Canadian Federal Pilots Association, which represents a large number of the inspectors, the Union

Transport committee  It was too costly for the government. Richard and I both sat on a committee, with Transport Canada, that was dealing with implementation of a confidential reporting system. Over a number of years, we had at least two meetings with Transport Canada on that implementation, but agai

Transport committee  Because there is no protection for the individual who reports an issue of an aircraft that has a problem being released for flight, let's say, an aircraft that should not be released but is released under pressure from the employer. The individuals are afraid that they will be se

Transport committee  In the United States they have a program called ASRS, whereby people can confidentially report to an independent company or group. I believe it's part of NASA, is it not, Richard? They do the investigation. They strip the individual's name off the investigative report. They i

Transport committee  Generally, as we all know, flying is safe. The maintenance people who we represent, the maintenance people in all the airlines, do the best they can with what they have to do their business. But again, let's face facts: humans are humans and sometimes there are errors made. Mis

Transport committee  On the maintenance side of the house, there is still inspection. The issues, though, centre around the implementation and operation of a safety management system. For example, in one carrier, how many certified engineers can supervise how many non-certified engineers or apprentic

Transport committee  That's fairly correct, Mr. Volpe, but it is also that the regulator is not necessarily aware of what SMS reports have been filed. When they send in the report to the company, the company deals with it however it sees fit. It does not necessarily come back and tell the applicable

Transport committee  Yes, and when I ask my leadership people at these companies what they think, they say not to throw out SMS, but we need more oversight. It's exactly what they tell me.

Transport committee  That's pretty close to what I'm trying to say, Mr. Volpe.