grizz, I agree and hope others will chime in.
Yesterday, the same day on which the TSB put SMS on their watchlist, Transport Minister Baird announced that TC will be taking back certification and oversight of the business sector from the CBAA.
Transport Canada takes full authority for business aviation - News Releases - Transport Canada
There has been a claim that TC has stated it will require 50 new inspectors in order to fulfill this returned authority. Some people have the nerve to suggest this is a ploy on the part of the inspector's unions to acquire more dues, rather than a concerted effort by the inspectors representatives to ensure TC is able to do its job effectively. TC has certainly admitted that there were already a large number of vacant positions that required filling prior to this latest.
Personally, I see this as a step in the right direction. But there are many things I think TC needs to do in order to repair the damage done.
A functioning SMS absolutely relies on quality of information sharing. In order to assess risks, one needs to be able to discover potential risks in advance of having to face them. Putting aside the difficulties of searching the various TC databases for information (SDRs and the CADORS, for instance) for a moment, I believe the TSB is seriously failing the industry.
An absolutely Essential way of setting up a good SMS includes evaluating incidents and accidents of similar operations/aircraft. This is why SafeSkies included the following in their objectives:
Ensuring that the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada investigate all accidents that result in death or serious injury of a worker for cause and contributing factors in a timely fashion, and the results made public as they are with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the United States;
Ensuring that the TSB Aviation Safety Information System (ASIS) is made public as is the NTSB database in the United States;
Mission Statement | SafeSkies.ca
... and this in the petition:
WHEREAS, the Transportation Safety Board no longer investigates all serious accidents for cause and contributing factors, nor does it make public the results of all investigations, resulting in a loss of valuable
safety information;
Aviation Safety Petition (PDF)
Unfortunately, the TSB doesn't see this as a problem. No response to the petition has yet been received from TC (although it is overdue now, by parliamentary rules), but this response was received from the TSB:
TSB Response to Petition (PDF). Unfortunately, it doesn't seem the TSB sees themselves as a problem, or underfunded.