This week all eyes are on the SCOTIC committee of Parliament (responsible for oversight of transportation) to see how MPs will vote on a critical motion related to aviation safety.
On October 19th the 12-member committee will consider a motion put forward by NDP air safety critic Dennis Bevington, calling for the committee to investigate recent revelations by the CBC's Fifth Estate investigative program and by The Walrus magazine.
A favourable vote by the Committee would enable MPs to peel back some of the secrecy surrounding Transport Canada's conduct, and give the public a glimpse of the department's allegedly lax oversight of the industry and intimidation of its own employees who raise safety concerns. The witness list would undoubtedly include respected figures such as Justice Virgil Moshansky (author of the landmark Dryden Inquiry report) and Greg Holbrook, former National Chairman of the Canadian Federal Pilots Association, who are both on record with harsh criticisms of the department's actions.
Such hearings would likely also demonstrate the need for a full judicial inquiry: the course of action that air safety advocacy organizations such as SafeSkies.ca are calling for.
This vote is of particular interest to anyone concerned about the protection of whistleblowers in Canada, since the problems evident in aviation encapsulate all that is wrong with the current regime, from the flawed legislation to the Integrity Commissioner who has been unable to uncover either wrongdoing or reprisals.
Minister John Baird introduced the current whistleblower legislation in 2006, calling it the "Mount Everest" of whistleblower protection. Yet employees of his own department are too frightened to speak on camera about serious violations of safety rules. One inspector was heard on the Fifth Estate refusing point blank to be interviewed on camera because: "Whistleblower protection under the federal legislation is a joke and everybody knows it. I would be crucified by the federal government and I’d never get employment anywhere..."
As for the Integrity Commissioner, not one of the aviation industry whistleblowers that have contacted FAIR has reported receiving any assistance, support or protection from her office.
Such hearings would likely be a serious embarrassment for Transport Minister Baird, so we can expect the all the Conservative MPs to vote against the motion, regardless of the negative signal that this sends to the flying public. The Liberals will almost certainly support the NDP motion, leaving the Bloc Québécois as the deciders.
Concerned citizens should therefore pay particular attention to the actions of the two Bloc MPs, Mario Laframboise and Roger Gaudet. Watch this space for further developments.
