W8 has a few litmus items that indicate change for the better is actually occurring.
The canadians had a problem with owners doing their own maintenance.
the bastards wouldn't stop doing it.
So transport Canada mounted a safety case. an honest look at the "problem".
What they found in the statistics was that private owner maintainers weren't crashing aircraft at any greater rate than "properly" maintained aircraft.
The statistics proved that there was no detriment.
So canada made private owner maintenance legal.
they also created an owner maintained category of registration.
this allows commercially built privately owned aircraft to be decertified and maintained by the owner on a stand alone basis.
all on the basis of a safety case done by honest enquiring minds.
compare the australian situation. 2 years in prison for not having a maintenance release. no option for owner maintenance at all.
a system that tries by draconian legislation to preserve a totally certified environment.
in reality among all the private owners I know there is only one not actively maintaining his own aircraft.
if you want further proof that the world has moved on from CAsA's draconian "certification" download the australian VH aircraft register from the CAsA website. stick it in a spreadsheet and count the number of amateur built aircraft.
then do some further churning. work out the percentage of new aircraft that weren't built in factories.
when we see the reality reflected in some sensible legislation, then and only then, will we have made progress.
until then private owners like me will ignore it all.
CAsA, the Clueless And Senile Administrator.