Green Guard,
That's a stupid comment you made about the crew not having the radar on. An even stupider comment is that you insinuate that they may not even know how to use it.
The aircraft hit clear air turbulence at 36,500 feet during daylight hours. The CAT may have been caused by a meterological event or by the wake turbulence from a passing aircraft.
Radar is used to detect thunderstorms. I would hazard a guess that there are very few thunderstorms in Canada in January. As I type this, the temperature outside my house is a balmy -12 degrees C. Not a lot of thunderstorms develop in these temperatures. I was flying over the Rockies the same day that Air Canada had it's jet upset. There wasn't any reason to have the weather radar on.
You show your ignorance by insinuating that this crew should have had their weather radar on or that they may not have even known how to use it.
Sir, you owe this crew an apology.
Ex-beagle