To the Editor,
In a Dec. 28, 2019, Globe and Mail investigative report, it was revealed that Transport Canada had essentially been certifying Boeing aircraft flown by Canada’s airlines based on the findings of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
Meanwhile, the FAA was basically acting as a rubber stamp for the giant Boeing corporation’s planes, including its flawed 737 Max product. (And who knows what other potential disasters before it?)
It is most concerning, regardless of Transport Canada’s present claims that it expects more proof of the plane’s safety before again allowing it to fly here.
A common refrain prevails, especially among Western capitalist nation governments and corporate circles—that best business practices, including what’s best for the consumers, are best decided by business decision makers.
Other than what’s best for bottom-line corporate profit margins, this was proven false by, as a more consequential example, Boeing’s decision to keep its ill-fated 737 Max planes flying, regardless of major indicators, including employee warnings, they should be grounded and serious software glitches corrected.
I fear that when it comes to the biggest of businesses and their lobbyists’ frightening influence over important government-body safety decisions, deadly reckless business decisions will be repeated, even ones enabling preventable jetliner crashes.
Frank Sterle Jr.
White Rock, B.C.