MONTREAL—Just two months ago, an Air Canada jet flying from Toronto to Japan was forced to turn around only moments after takeoff.

One of the plane’s two engines was in trouble and metal pieces began to break off, smashing the windshields of cars parked on Mississauga streets as the lumbering jet slowly turned. While no one was hurt, many are blaming the Harper government for allowing the incident to occur.

According to the opposition NDP, changes to Canada’s regulatory system and the recent transfer of Air Canada’s aircraft maintenance to Central America could be a toxic combination.

“Are you asking if I’m afraid? Yes I am,” said Magali Picard, a vice-president at the Public Service Alliance of Canada. “I don’t think that Canada should deal with our security like this.”

Since 2004, Transport Canada has moved the aviation industry to what it calls a safety management system. Instead of government inspectors climbing over planes and looking at the state of parts, the industry is tasked to inspect itself.

Transport Canada personnel look over the paper trail from industry-run inspections to ensure that standards are being upheld.

With the closure of Aveos in April, 1,800 maintenance jobs from the Air Canada spin-off and the majority of the airline’s maintenance is being moved to Central America.

Despite a situation where Canadian inspectors would be looking over the paper records of work done on another continent, union leaders say that mechanics left in Canada will ensure that the system will remain safe—however the room for error could grow.

“People shouldn’t be worried, because we are good mechanics,” said Richard Guay, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. “But they should be aware.’

Despite the cuts, airline analyst Karl Moore insisted that the job losses at Aveos wouldn’t endanger Canadian lives.

“From young pilots on, it’s really part of their culture to be very focused on their safety and that is the same throughout the maintenance people at Air Canada,” said Moore. “They aren’t going to let a plane go out there and the pilots won’t fly it unless it is completely safe.