SMS has the potential for being a very effective tool within aviation worldwide, allowing us to identify as an industry those factors which could potentially lead to incidents and accidents in the future by having companies identify and apply corrective actions specific to their operation rather than industry wide implementation which in a country like Canada, could pose problematic when considering that a company like Air Canada faces widely different operational challenges than say, First Air - even though they are bound by the same regulatory structure based on their equipment.
As Massey058 correctly pointed out the roll-out of SMS in Canada can be seen as a covering agent for staff shortages at Transport Canada. While I believe it is too soon to have actually happened this could cause a situation in the future where operators take shortcuts allowed by SMS. These shortcuts I refer to are inherent in the system - if a corrective action fails, an operator need only self-identify that it has failed and Transport Canada is happy that the system is working.
Unfortunately the bosses at TC have put their inspectors - who with one or two exceptions are hard working folk, in a position where they can no longer do their jobs. I personally know three inspectors who have not had a chance to ramp an aircraft in months because they are stuck at a desk reviewing findings from audits created by SMS which otherwise in the past would have necessitated a phone call or visit, but now they are required to complete at least a couple weeks of memos, findings, corrective action plans, et al.
In my opinion SMS would be an effective tool if it were combined with the previous system of inspections and spot checks rather than replacing it. Require operators to report to the regulatory body on their top 10 safety concerns for the past quarter and the corrective actions they applied. Then have the inspectors go out during their normal spot check and inspection runs and have a look at which corrective actions are working and which are not. Then the inspectors would meet to determine which actions are working and which are not; compile and publish this list to industry so that all operators are provided the opportunity to compare and adjust their own operations.
Doing this every quarter, at least initially, would allow us as an industry to identify gaps and errors in not only our own companies, but also across the board and it would allow for all the great ideas to be used by everyone.