Canadian Aviation Safety Board : The Canadian Aviation Safety Board (CASB) came into being following the passage of Bill C-163, which received Royal Assent on November 19, 1983 and came into effect on May 1, 1984. As defined by the Canadian Aviation Safety Board Act, the objective of the Board was to advance aviation safety by identifying safety deficiencies as evidenced by aviation occurrences; by conducting independent investigations and if necessary, public inquiries into aviation occurrences in order to make findings as to their contributing factors and causes; and by reporting publicly on its investigations and public inquiries and on the findings in relation thereto and by making recommendations designed to eliminate or reduce safety deficiencies.
Impetus for its creation stemmed from the Dubin Commission, established in August 1979. Several aviation incidents in the 1970s led to negative public perception of aviation safety, which was compounded by the fact that the Department of Transportation was responsible for both regulation and investigation of transportation in Canada. This potential conflict of interest prompted the move to establish a commission of inquiry into aviation security, headed by Justice Charles Dubin. The Dubin Report, tabled in 1981 and ultimately published in three volumes by 1982, made several recommendations, which included the establishment of an independent aviation safety board.
Prior to 1984, the function of air safety and air occurrence investigation was the responsibility of several departments. From 1921 to 1936, the Civil Aviation Branch of National Defence (RG24) fulfilled this function, followed by the Department of Transportation's Aviation Safety Bureau from 1936 to May 1984. The CASB took responsibility for this function until 1989.
Several years after the creation of the CASB, thought was given to establishing similar independent review boards for other forms of transportation, including marine, rail and commodity pipeline. As a result, the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation Safety Board was established in 1990. The Board is known by its short title, Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) and is mandated to advance transportation safety in the marine, pipeline, rail and air modes of transportation.
