Regulate the regulators?

I am not a great fan of government regulation.  The problems with government is they tend to go overboard in their regulation zeal trying to make one policy fit all.  When exceptions pop up, so too new regulations.

Sometimes the best regulation is none at all... but not in all cases.

The case for regulation.  The Con government is trying to back door Bill C-7.  C-7 is An Act to Amend the Aviation Act.  Get that?  This is an Act to amend an Act.  You can't just amend an Act; you have to pass an Act to amend an Act.  But let's not get off topic.  C-7 was originally called C-6 but C-6 died at first reading in 2007 when Harpo called an election.  C-7 was introduced at third reading by Harpo but it also died when the Cons defeated themselves and called another election.

Now C-7 is being contemplated to be enacted.  Notice that I said enacted not passed.  The Con government wants to enact the regulations contained within C-7 without bringing them to a vote in the Commons.  They have the right to do this of course.  I do not argue against that right.  So what's my point?

The Cons want to amend the Aviation Act to allow for something called a Safety Management System (SMS).  What you may ask is an SMS?  I had no idea what it was until I attended a round table discussion on Aviation Safety this week on the Hill.  All MPs and Senators were invited by the NDP transport critic to attend the round table to hear from people in the know.  Two Dippers attended and no-one else.  What did the others miss?

They missed first person stories of how Transport Canada has screwed up airline safety regulation in this country to the point that they will, through the provisions of faux-C-7, now get out of the business of regulating airlines all together.  From now on, if the Cons and Transport Canada get their way, there will be no more government inspections of airlines or airplanes in Canada.  Those inspections will be done by the airlines themselves.

Doesn't that give you a warm feeling in the special spot?  Cause, don't forget that we are not just talking about Air Canada and Westjet.  We are also talking about air taxis, air ambulances, bush companies and a myriad of other medium and small companies who will now regulate themselves.  The body count will rise thanks to Harpo and his band of idiots.  Don't believe me?  Take a look at what has happened in the financial industry since they became self-regulating.

As I told the round table committee, it is interesting to note that govenment will inspect a six foot non-structural wall that I build in my basement but they will not inspect a plane designed to carry 10s and 100s of men, women and children.

SMS was designed to augment government inspections and regulation; not replace it.

Now let's take a look at the other side of the coin.  At a Food Safety Town Hall meeting last night, we learned that farmer's markets were regulated as if they were five star restaurants.  We also learned that, by simply changing a regulation, a local farmer can lose his organic farm status even though his farming practice has not changed in thirty years.  The regulators claim to know farming better that the farmers. 

We regulate the hell out our local food produced.  We inspect it at every point in the system from production to consumption but, we do not, or can not, regulate the food that we bring in from outside the country.  That is why we get melamine in our melons from China.

All in all, it is a bad time to be a Canadian.