| New rules slammed by national sport parachute group |
The president of a national skydiving organization says the federal government is taking an unprecedented step toward regulating leisure activities by announcing new proposed rules on the sport which the group says could actually make it more dangerous.
Transport Canada announced earlier this week that it's taking steps to tighten up safety standards for the training of student parachutists and instructor certifications at skydiving schools.
The new rules come in the wake of the deaths of at least 2 parachutists in recent years, both died at the same Calgary-area skydiving school.
While the industry has been governed by a set of voluntary standards, on things like procedures and technical recommendations, proposed amendments to the Canadian Aviation Regulations would make those things mandatory.
Tim Grech, president of the Ontario-based Canadian Sport Parachuting Association, is dismissing the new proposed regulations as unnecessary. "The government would be starting to regulate something they know nothing about," he said in an interview Friday from Dunnville, Ont.
Grech said the government first proposed changing the rules on the skydiving industry in 1999, and while that initially received some industry support, the new proposal has evolved into something so vague it has left the industry puzzled about how it may affect the country's approximately 56 training schools.
Regulation of the skydiving industry is also a slippery slope for other leisure sport companies, like scuba diving or helicopter skiing, Grech argues - industries that are also partially regulated by Transport Canada.
Worldwide, out of over 6 million skydives in 2005, 67 of them were fatal, and only 3 involved students, Grech said.
|
|
| |
| Article Rating
|
Average Score: 0
Votes: 0
|
 |
|
