Transport committee  We don't want that either. We're absolutely vehemently against that. As I said, there are checks and balances. Pilots are very proud individuals, and we have programs set up so if a pilot is flying with you and you think they're not doing too well, there is a system in place in

Transport committee  Certainly in an act of Parliament we'd like to ensure that these reports remain confidential because that will help ensure that you get reports, because otherwise people are not going to self-report, even if there was a 1% chance that this could be used against them somehow.

Transport committee  As long as it's de-identified, and that it's not specific to an airline, you could certainly think about that.

Transport committee  I will quickly give you an example of where SMS works. A pilot is flying along, and he's given a clearance to climb from flight level 340 up to flight level 350. He reads back “360”, and he climbs up to flight level 360. The next thing you know, he realizes that he's at the wron

Transport committee  I'm not a statistician, but sure.

Transport committee  I'm not too sure where their numbers came from either, but if they are valid then we should be promoting SMS even more, so that we can find those areas that need to be fixed and we can be proactive.

Transport committee  Yes.

Transport committee  Mr. Chairman, if I could say, one of the first things that happens when an SMS report is filed is that the receiver looks at it and if they believe it's outside of the parameters of the program, such as maybe it's wilful conduct, they will then immediately say, “You're going to h

Transport committee  No, it is the operator, whoever the gatekeeper of the SMS is. You talk about pilot unions talking to the operators. There are a lot of pilots in this country who are not unionized and do not have a formal process to go to their employer.

Transport committee  It works for the Air Canada Pilots Association because they have an agreement with their operator. They have the agreement, but it's not in regulation. It's just another example of flight data monitoring. I've heard that you'll land somewhere and maintenance will show up and say

Transport committee  I am familiar with that. We wanted that bill to pass specifically for that reason, to protect the data. We need legislation to protect it, because if the data's not protected and it gets in the hands of government access to information, we know how that would be. We definitely ne

Transport committee  ALPA would support that.

Transport committee  Let's start with ICAO. ICAO has standards and recommended practices. It's up to a state to either adhere or not adhere to them. If they do not adhere, they file a difference to let the rest of the world know that they're not in compliance with this particular area. One area is w

Transport committee  It does. We have great—

Transport committee  Absolutely. They would take the standards and recommended practice and make regulations to ensure that they adhere to the ICAO standards. Canada is actually a leader in the world for this, has an exceptional safety record, and was one of the leaders out of the gate with SMS. I