`Wall of secrecy' alleged over air safety reports
`Wall of secrecy' alleged over air safety reports Legislation bans airlines from releasing information on incidents reported by employees January 16, 2008 Bruce Campion-Smith Ottawa bureau chief OTTAWA–Transport Canada has put up a "wall of secrecy" around reports of air safety problems, a blow to accountability that will undermine public faith in Canada's airline industry, advocates warn. A controversial change to the regulation of Canadian airlines contains a blanket ban on the release of air safety incidents reported by airline and airport employees. The Canadian Newspaper Association and the Canadian Union of Public Employees are raising the alarm, saying air travellers will be left in the dark about safety concerns. "They're constructing a bulletproof shield of secrecy around the reports of air safety incidents that is immune to challenge," said David Gollob, senior vice-president of public affairs and communications at the newspaper association. But Transport Canada was quick yesterday to deny any shift to secrecy, saying that the information off-limits under the new law has not typically been available for public scrutiny. "The information that is protected is information that would not otherwise be available," said Franz Reinhardt, Transport Canada's director of policy and regulatory services. "That's because the information is contained in internal company reports." However, Richard Banlis, a senior researcher at CUPE, which represents 8,500 flight attendants, said that under the censorship provisions of Bill C-7, airlines will be able to "bury their problems." "We made the argument that that's a cone of silence that is descending on the industry which suits Transport (Canada) and the airlines," Banlis said yesterday in an interview. "We think that's wrong as a matter of policy. "At the end of the day you will know nothing about what's happening in the industry except what comes through the minister's and the airlines' news releases. That is simply unacceptable." At the heart of the change is a move by Transport Canada to let airlines police their own operations. Under this change, airline employees will be encouraged to flag safety concerns within their own organizations. If that information is gathered by federal inspectors, the legislation bans its public release, even under access-to-information legislation. And unlike cabinet confidences, which are made public after 25 years, the reports of safety concerns would stay secret forever. "We will never know what is going on with safety at an airline," Banlis said. Access-to-information legislation has been used to reveal shortcomings in airline safety. In 2006, a joint investigation by reporters from the Toronto Star, Hamilton Spectator and The Record of Waterloo Region, revealed potentially dangerous shortcomings in a number of areas, including federal oversight, safety regulations and the pressure on front-line aviation workers to maintain an on-time flight schedule, sometimes at the expense of safety. The primary source was Transport Canada's database of more than 50,000 aviation incidents since 1993, obtained through a federal access-to-information request. Under the new regime, some of that information will be evaluated by the airline, and even Transport Canada, to track an airline's safety performance. But to encourage employees to voice concerns, Transport Canada agreed to keep those reports secret if they came into the possession of its own inspectors. He said making those reports public could have a chilling effect if employees know their reports could "make headlines in a newspaper. We are not trying to hide any information." Bill C-7 has passed the Commons. But CUPE and the newspaper association are taking their concerns to the Senate, hoping to win changes before it is finally made law. Gollob said the secrecy risks undermining confidence in the new aviation regulation that has already attracted criticism.
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