Updated: Petition for Judicial Inquiry Tabled in House of Commons
On November 19, 2009 MP Peter Julian (NDP) tabled the first batch of signed petitions calling for a judicial inquiry into aviation safety oversight. Click here for the full text of the petition tabled.
According to the rules of the House of Commons, the government is required to reply to the petition within 45 days of its presentation. If the petition remains without a response at the expiration of this time, a Committee of the House, designated by the Member presenting the petition, is required to look into the Ministry's failure to respond.
What follows is the text of Mr. Julian's presentation at the time of tabling.
Mr. Peter Julian (Burnaby—New Westminster, NDP):
Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to present the first in what will be many petitions coming to this House of Commons from several hundred representatives, citizens of southern Ontario, the region of Toronto, eastern Ontario, Orléans, Montreal, Quebec, indeed, right across central Canada. These petitioners will be added to the hundreds and hundreds of names coming in from all over the country.
The petitioners are concerned about the issue of privatizing or outsourcing of transportation safety standards. The self-serve safety that was pushed forward by the government was stopped cold by the NDP opposition, and so the legislation was never adopted. However, the government is trying to go through the back door and adopt the same kind of standards.
These petitioners call on the Government of Canada to initiate a commission of inquiry to conduct a judicial review and examine the state of national aviation safety.
SafeSkies Note
Additional Tablings:
On November 20th, MP's Bill Siksay, Alex Atamanenko and Jim Maloway tabled more signed petitions.
Mr. Alex Atamanenko (British Columbia Southern Interior, NDP):
Madam Speaker, the final petition asks the Government of Canada to initiate a commission of inquiry headed by a Superior Court judge to conduct a judicial review into Canada's state of national aviation safety and government oversight of the aviation industry to be followed by further reviews at defined intervals.
Mr. Jim Maloway (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP):
Madam Speaker, I am tabling a petition with 16 pages of signatures from Canadian workers who are deeply concerned by the fact that Transport Canada is reducing its overall traditional oversight and on-site inspection of airplanes.
Transport Canada has been virtually outsourcing and privatizing its responsibilities to aviation companies via the so-called SMS system, safety management systems.
The petitioners are concerned by the fact that Transport Canada is trying to reduce Canadian safety standards through the back door by changing Canadian aviation regulations after the Conservative government failed to pass enabling legislation in the House.
The petitioners call upon the government to initiate a commission of enquiry to assess the state of our national aviation safety and to look into government oversight of the aviation industry.
Mr. Bill Siksay (Burnaby—Douglas, NDP):
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition signed by over 100 Canadians from British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, who are very concerned about aviation safety and the need for better government oversight of the airline industry in Canada.
The petitioners are particularly concerned about allowing aviation companies to be responsible for their own safety inspections through safety management systems, or SMS. They point out that this will lead to situations where financial considerations will trump appropriate attention to passenger and worker safety.
The petitioners are seeking a commission of enquiry, headed by a superior court judge, into the state of aviation safety in Canada.
On November 25th, MPs Dennis Bevington and Jean Crowder and tabled petitions.
Mr. Dennis Bevington (Western Arctic, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, I wish to present a petition calling for a commission of inquiry into aviation safety. This petition has been signed by numerous petitioners from across the country and represents a real desire to see that our aviation system is held in the highest degree of safety in the future as it was in the past.
Ms. Jean Crowder (Nanaimo—Cowichan, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls on the Government of Canada to initiate a commission of inquiry headed by a superior court judge to conduct a judicial review into Canada's state of national aviation safety and government oversight of the aviation industry, to be followed by further reviews at defined intervals. We recently read stories in the newspapers about pilot fatigue, so we are hopeful that the government will take these petitioners' concerns very seriously.
On November 26th, MP Dennis Bevington tabled more petitions.
Mr. Dennis Bevington (Western Arctic, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from numerous Canadians across the country which states that the undersigned citizens of Canada draw attention of the House of Commons to the following. It contains a series of statements dealing with the problems surrounding the safety management systems that have been put in place by Transport Canada.
The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to initiate a commission of inquiry headed by a superior court judge to conduct a judicial review into Canada's state of national aviation safety and government oversight of the aviation industry to be followed by further reviews at defined intervals.
On November 30th, MP Chris Charlton tabled more petitions.
Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition today that is part of a national campaign calling for a commission of inquiry into aviation safety.
The petitioners are concerned that Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board are failing in their duty to protect the safety of Canadians who travel by air and those who work in the industry. The petitioners believe that this is a disaster waiting to happen. Transport Canada and the TSB have developed a culture of secrecy where whistleblowers are persecuted and fatal accidents are seen as just a cost of doing business.
The petitioners believe that Canadians are being stonewalled by both agencies when trying to get answers about aviation accidents, that they are persecuted when they point out safety issues, and that the federal government is planning to remove itself from its duties to inspect and to enforce safety regulations simply in order to save money and reduce Crown liability.
The petitioners are aware of the government's attempt to push forward self-serve safety and are deeply troubled by that. They are worried about the government's desire to privatize or outsource transportation safety standards and they want that process to stop. As a result, the petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to initiate a commission of inquiry to conduct a judicial review and examine the state of national aviation safety.
I am pleased to table this petition on their behalf.
On December 6th more petitions were tabled by MPs Peter Julian, Carol Hughes and Niki Ashton.
Mr. Peter Julian (Burnaby—New Westminster, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, I have here petitions that are signed by hundreds of Canadians from every province in the Confederation, from British Columbia through Ontario, Quebec, the Prairies and right through to Atlantic Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador.
The petitioners are concerned about the government's implementation of the so-called safety management systems, or self-serve safety. They are concerned about financial considerations outweighing safety. They are concerned about Canada losing its safety record and that we may no longer even be compliant with our obligations to the International Civil Aviation Organization.
On behalf of these petitioners, I would like to table this petition. They call upon the government to initiate a commission of inquiry that would conduct a judicial review into Canada's state of aviation safety. They are concerned about our safety, and they have right to be.
Mrs. Carol Hughes (Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, today I rise to table a petition that calls for a commission of inquiry into safety aviation.
The petitioners are concerned by the fact that Transport Canada is reducing traditional oversight and inspection methods and is delegating its responsibilities to aviation companies via a safety management system. They also are concerned with the fact that the Government of Canada has sought amendments to the Aeronautics Act that continue secrecy provisions and do not effectively protect whistleblowers. Other concerns are with regard to Canadian aviation regulations, financial considerations versus safety, lack of investigations from the Transport Safety Board, as well as a few other pertinent concerns.
As previously mentioned, the petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to initiate a commission of inquiry, headed by a Superior Court judge, to conduct a judicial review into Canada's state of national aviation safety and government oversight of the aviation industry.
Ms. Niki Ashton (Churchill, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to present, signed by Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
The petitioners ask the Government of Canada to initiate a commission of inquiry to conduct a judicial review into Canada's state of national aviation safety.
These are the voices of Canadians who are concerned about the government's wish to recede from the role that it should play in ensuring that our aviation systems are safe. As someone who has survived a plane crash and represents many communities where travelling by air is the only way one is going to get out, we know air safety is nothing to be played around with. These Canadians know. We want the government to act.
On December 10th, more petitions were tabled by MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis.
Ms. Judy Wasylycia-Leis (Winnipeg North, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, finally, I am also pleased to present a petition from people who are concerned about safety in the air and about the fact that the responsibilities delegated to aviation companies by the safety management system is a problem.
The petitioners call upon the government to initiate a commission of inquiry, headed by a superior court judge, to conduct a judicial review into Canada's state of national aviation safety and government oversight of the aviation industry, to be followed by further reviews, at defined intervals.