The following emails were obtained through an access to Information request submitted to Transport Canada by someone else who later communicated them to me.
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Normally, when Transport Canada is solicited by users such as airline pilots to clarify Aviation Regulations, they send a reply about the regulations. When I wrote several long emails to Mr
Mathieu to inform him that I thought that issuing FLVCs to foreign licensed pilots to fly revenue flights under Part VII was contrary to the CARs, I expected him to either agree or to counter my reasoning with counter argument based on Regulations and reasoning, structured similarly to my complaint.
Mr
Mathieu is not only a Licensed Commercial pilot, he is also a licensed lawyer.
But his reaction to my emails was not at all what I had expected. First, to this day, he never replied to me, he just ignored me. Instead he wrote two emails to Mr Sean Borg, of Transport Canada.
Here are those two emails. In the first, Mr
Mathieu states that he does not think that the illegal FLVC is an enforcement issue.
In the second, Mr
Mathieu asks Mr Sean if he (
Mathieu) should reply to me or if Mr Sean would handle the issue at his level.
Who is this Mr Borg that Mr
Mathieu is the first person to write to with regards to FLVCs, after receiving a complaint from a pilot which considers that the use of FLVCs are illegal for revenue flights under PArt VII?
According the Federal employee database, Mr Sean P. Borg is A/Director, Civil Aviation Secretariat- Transport Canada -Civil Aviation Secretariat Branch 330 Sparks Street Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N5 Canada Telephone : 613-990-5448 E-mail :
sean.borg@tc.gc.ca.
But under his emails, there is a different title: It states that he is the Chief, Strategic Communications, Civil Aviation, Transport Canada.
So Transport Canada's strategy with regards to the FLVC issue is clear from day one: Mr
Mathieu received a long technical email containing an analysis the CARs, which reaches a conclusion that does not concur with what Transport Canada has been doing, and instead of replying to defend Transport's position with regards to those Regulations, he forwards it to the Chief of Strategic Communications at Transport Canada.
And what does the Chief of Strategic Communications suggest as a course of Action ?
Here Mr Borg's reply:
Their position is that because the email is copied to the Minister, let's let the political side of Transport Canada reply to this troublemaker. They were most likely in the process of sending me a "thank for writing to the Minister" letter when I asked for your help on AvCanada and posted the form letter for sending a complaint to Mr
Mathieu's office.. Many of you answered the call, and Mr
Mathieu's office was bombarded with emails and letters from all of you regarding the illegality of the FLVC (thanks a million to those who wrote). I did not count them but he received a brick of them, as this picture illustrates:
They could no longer just have the Ministerial Inquiries Staff reply with a bland "Thank you for writing to the Minister" letter.
So Mr
Mathieu wrote again to Mr Sean, this time copied also to Mr Aaron McCrorie.
The fact that
Mathieu writes in French shows his frustration. He wants to make sure his point is well understood by writing in his mother tongue.
Here is what he writes:
My name, my title and my phone number were published on Social Media (Facebook and AvCanada etc.) which results in my having received in the last few days numerous emails and phone calls concerning the FLVCs. I also received. through the mail, a formal complaint, for investigation. These complaints all originate from different individuals.
I understand that this file is managed at the highest level and I do not want to interfere. However, our policy at Enforcement is to acknowledge receipt of complaints, to record them and to follow up. To just IGNORE THEM does not seem like an option.
Could you please provide me with instructions on how to deal with these complaints that are addressed to me ?
Who is Aaron McCrorie that Mr
Mathieu decides to brings into the loop at this time ?
He is the the Director, Standards - Transport Canada - Standards 330 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N5 Telephone : 613-991-6477 E-mail :
aaron.mccrorie@tc.gc.ca
What do these two Transport Canada officials have to reply to this cry for help from Mr
Mathieu ?
Mr Sean Borg:
Jean-François, Aaron,
We are going to develop a strategy that takes into account the implication of Social Media. We will reply to you in a few weeks. For the time being, I recommend to NOT REPLY. We have a legal opinion that indicates that our approach is in accordance with Regulations.
Mr Sean Borg tells Mr
Mathieu to violate his own SOP and to just ignore the plaintiffs. Mr
Mathieu followed that advice for he never replied to anyone (I can quote Mr
Mathieu's SOP, of which I have a copy, if anyone is interested)
It shows how much respect Transport Canada has for Canada's airline pilots.
(We tried to get a copy that that legal opinion from the Department of Justice through an access to Information request but is was sent completely blacked out. It seems that the Justice' Department opinion on the legality of FLVCs is not something the general public or Airline Pilots in Canada are allowed to see)
Here is what Mr McCrowie had to reply:
So the Justice's Department Legal Opinion is secret. What does Transport Canada's Chief of Strategic Communications come up with as a plan of action:
All those who complained received a short letter stating the following:
I am writing you today to follow up on your concerns about whether a foreign licence validation certificate (FLVC) is a licence required by Part IV for the purposes of Subparts 703, 704 and 705 of the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs).
Subpart 401 of the CARs and the personnel licensing standards specify the requirements to be met to obtain a FLVC. The department has reviewed the requirements of Subparts 401 and 703, 704 and 705 of the CARs and confirms that it is our position that an FLVC falls within the meaning of a “licence…required by Part IV” as that phrase is used in Subparts 703, 704 and 705.
So their position is that an FLVC is the same as a Canadian Licence when CAR 703, 704 and 705 indicate that one needs a Canadian Licence to fly revenue flights under Part VII.
But we do not to see the full analysis of the CARs made by the Department of Justice to come up with that conclusion. That is secret.
Now Jean-François
Mathieu is no fool, and like all of us and is capable of doing Regulation analysis of his own. And he did just that on the copy of the formal complaint that he received through registered mail. Here is an excerp from that complaint with tons of Mr
Mathieu's hand written notes in the margins.
But all these notes were hidden from our view before this document was released to us. Could it be that Mr
Mathieu concurred with us and wanted to hide this from us? How could he not ? The Regulations all point to the restrictive and temporary nature of the FLVCs. How can the Minister go from the restrictive and exceptional nature of an FLVC and decide that the FLVC is to be considered the equivalent of a Canadian Aviation Document ?
We are all fools is what we are told. And the Justice's Department's Legal Opinion ? Not for fools to look at. They would likely find faults in the reasoning wouldn't they ?
As a side note, before Mr
Mathieu was bombarded with your complaints (thank you all for your help), one of his colleagues decided to write to him. And guess what ? He put down on paper that he agrees with what we claim: that FLVCs are illegal for revenue flights under part VII.
Although part of Mr Speer's opinion was hidden from us, here is the part of the email that we were allowed to read:
...those part 7 sections may well preclude a pilot with such a validation from serving as a flight crew member in a part 7 operation.....
That is precisely what we all claim Mr Speer. Thank you for your support. We are happy that at least one person at Transport either did not get the message from the higher spheres of Transport to STFU on the subject of FLVC and let the Communication wizards handle this embarrassing Regulatory issue..... or maybe he just had the guts to ignore the gag order and not only provide his opinion, but do it in writing on top of it.
Who is Mr Speer ?
Arlo Speer
Chief, Recreational and Special Flight Operations
Transport Canada
330 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N5
Canada
Telephone : 613-990-1022
Fax : 613-990-6215
E-mail :
arlo.speer@tc.gc.ca
). The terms appear to be correctly used for Canadian English:
