Andrew Scheer Leader of the Conservative Party

Andrew Scheer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Andrew Scheer
MP
Andrew Scheer.jpg
Leader of the Official Opposition
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 27, 2017
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Preceded by Rona Ambrose
Leader of the Conservative Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 27, 2017
Deputy Denis Lebel
Preceded by Rona Ambrose (interim)
Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons
In office
November 18, 2015 – September 13, 2016
Leader Rona Ambrose
Preceded by Peter Julian
Succeeded by Candice Bergen
Speaker of the House of Commons
In office
June 2, 2011 – December 3, 2015
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Preceded by Peter Milliken
Succeeded by Geoff Regan
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Regina-Qu'Appelle
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 28, 2004
Preceded by Lorne Nystrom
Personal details
Born Andrew James Scheer
May 20, 1979 (age 38)
Ottawa, Canada
Political party Canadian Alliance (Before 2003)
Conservative (2003–present)
Spouse(s) Jill Ryan
Relations Jon Ryan (brother-in-law)
Children 5
Residence Stornoway
Education University of Ottawa
University of Regina (BA)
Website Party website
Campaign website
Andrew James Scheer, MP (born May 20, 1979) is a Canadian politican who is leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and Leader of the Opposition. He has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Regina—Qu'Appelle since 2004 and served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 2011 to 2015.[1][2] At age 32, he was the youngest Speaker in Canadian parliamentary history.[3] On September 28, 2016, Scheer announced his bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party.[4] On May 27, 2017, he became the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada on the 13th and final ballot of the leadership election,[5] with 50.95% of the vote.[6]


1 Early life and career
2 Political career
2.1 First years in the House of Commons
2.2 Speaker of the House of Commons
2.3 Opposition (second time)
2.4 2017 leadership election
3 Political positions
3.1 Abortion
3.2 Family support
3.3 Freedom of speech
3.4 Marijuana legalization
3.5 Medically assisted suicide
3.6 Refugees
3.7 Same-sex marriage
4 Family
5 References
6 External links
Early life and career
Scheer was born in Ottawa, Ontario, the son of Mary Gerarda Therese (Enright), a nurse, and James Scheer, a librarian and proofreader, who is a deacon of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ottawa.[7][8][9] He has two sisters. Scheer graduated from Immaculata High School, and then studied history and politics at the University of Ottawa. While attending university, Scheer worked in the correspondence department of the Office of the Leader of the Opposition (OLO). He moved to Regina after meeting his future wife Jill Ryan at university and finished his BA at the University of Regina. Instead of returning to Ottawa, Scheer worked at Shenher Insurance before joining the constituency office of a Canadian Alliance MP, Larry Spencer in Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre.

Political career
First years in the House of Commons
Scheer was elected as a Conservative candidate in the federal election of 2004 in the riding of Regina—Qu'Appelle, beating New Democratic Party MP Lorne Nystrom by 861 votes.[10] At the time Nystrom had been the longest-serving member of the House of Commons. Scheer was re-elected in the federal election of 2006, once again defeating Nystrom, this time by a margin of 2,740 votes.[11]

In April 2006, Scheer was named Assistant Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole, one of three deputy speakers and one of the youngest Members of Parliament to serve in that role in Commonwealth history. On November 21, 2008, he was named Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons and Chairman of Committees of the Whole,[12] succeeding New Democrat MP Bill Blaikie.

Speaker of the House of Commons
When the Conservative Party won a majority at the federal election in 2011, Scheer's experience as Deputy Speaker led many to consider him the front-runner to be elected Speaker of the House of Commons.[13][14] On June 2, 2011, Scheer defeated Denise Savoie in the sixth round of balloting; he was the last of five Conservative candidates, with Savoie the lone opposition candidate and the only woman. Scheer became the youngest House Speaker in Canadian history[3] and the first speaker to represent a Saskatchewan riding.

Scheer was one of thirteen Canadians banned from travelling to Russia under retaliatory sanctions imposed by President Vladimir Putin in March 2014.[15]

Opposition (second time)
Scheer was re-elected in the 2015 federal election that defeated the Conservative government.[16] He was appointed Opposition House Leader by Leader of the Opposition Rona Ambrose. On September 13, 2016, he announced his resignation outside a party caucus meeting in Halifax in order to explore a bid for the leadership of the federal Conservative Party.[17]

2017 leadership election
See also: Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, 2017
On September 28, 2016, Scheer announced his bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party,[4] and that he has the support of 32 members of the Conservative caucus.[18] On May 27, 2017, Scheer was elected as the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, beating runner up Maxime Bernier and more than 12 others with 50.95% of the vote through 13 rounds.[5]

Political positions
Scheer's campaign for the Conservative Party of Canada leadership was run under the slogan: "Real conservative. Real leader." He avoided advocating the social conservative issues that some of the candidates championed, saying that he wanted to "reach a broader audience of Canadians." Positions he did take a strong stance on included scrapping the carbon tax and being "tough-on-crime".[19] Scheer's views have led him to be described as a Blue Tory.[20]

Abortion
Scheer is considered pro-life by the Campaign Life Coalition and has a "perfect" pro-life voting record in the House of Commons.[21][22] After Henry Morgentaler, a pioneering pro-choice doctor was named to the Order of Canada, Scheer stated that the appointment had "debased the Order of Canada."[23][24] Scheer has said[25] that despite his personal view, he will respect the Conservative Party's official policy on abortion, which currently states, "A Conservative government will not support any legislation to regulate abortion"[26] although the party allows free votes on the matter.[26]

Family support
Andrew Scheer says he wants to make maternity and parental leave less expensive for families. He has promised to make employment insurance for parental and maternity benefits tax-free. He wants to introduce tax credit to families who send their children to private schools. Scheer also proposes raising the limit on how much employment income a parent can earn each week while on leave.[27]

Freedom of speech
Scheer has promised that universities or colleges “that do not foster a culture of free speech and inquiry on campus” will not receive federal funding under his government.[28]

Marijuana legalization
When asked about his stance on Canada's potential legalization of marijuana, he said though he is not in favour of the motion, "I am very realistic, and once it's legal in a short period of time there's going to be a lot of people that work for companies that distribute it... so we have to be very realistic as a party."[29]

Medically assisted suicide
Scheer voted against Bill C-14, which allows practitioners to assist in the suicide of mentally competent adults with "enduring and intolerable suffering" in cases where death is "reasonably foreseeable."[30][21]

Refugees
Scheer wants to prioritize helping those he considers the most vulnerable refugees, namely religious minorities like Christians in the Middle East who face death for conversion away from Islam.[31] He prefers to help refugees integrate through private sponsorship instead of government sponsorship. He contends that the refugees who are are currently struggling to find housing, jobs and language training is because of the Liberal Party "using a devastating tragedy for political purposes".[32]

Same-sex marriage
During his 2004 election campaign Scheer opposed expanding marriage to same-sex couples, and stated that the Civil Marriage Act “is abhorrent to me … and to every member of every faith community”.[33][24] Scheer voted in favour of a 2006 motion to re-open debate on the definition of marriage, after same-sex marriage had been legalized across Canada.[21] Scheer has stated that, despite his personal beliefs, he will not try to reopen the debate on same-sex marriage.[25]

Family
Scheer and his wife Jill have five children: Thomas, Grace, Madeline, Henry and Mary.[34][35] Jill Scheer's younger brother is professional football player Jon Ryan.[36] Another of Jill Scheer's brothers, Steve Ryan, ran for the Saskatchewan NDP in the 2007 and 2011 provincial elections.[37] He and his family attend Sunday Mass at Canadian Martyrs or Good Samaritan parishes.[24]

References
Jump up ^ "Profile". Parliament of Canada. July 17, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Speaker of the House of Commons". Parliament of Canada. July 17, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b Fitzpatrick, Meagan (June 2, 2011). "MPs elect youngest Speaker". CBC News. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
^ Jump up to: a b "Ex-Commons Speaker Scheer declares candidacy for Conservative leadership". Retrieved September 28, 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b Harris, Kathleen (May 27, 2017). "Andrew Scheer elected new Conservative leader". CBC News. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Results - CPC Leadership". Intvoting.com. Dominion Voting. May 27, 2017. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
Jump up ^ Brent Mattson. "The B.C. Catholic Paper - New Speaker of the House has never hidden his faith". rcav.org.
Jump up ^ Raj, Althia (May 25, 2017). "Andrew Scheer, 'Consensus Candidate,' Hopes The Nice Guy Finishes First In Tory Leadership". The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Mary Scheer Obituary". legacy.com. Ottawa Citizen. March 11, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
Jump up ^ Elections Canada, Official Voting Results, June 28, 2004.
Jump up ^ Elections Canada, Official Voting Results, January 23, 2006.
Jump up ^ Journal of the House of Commons of Canada, November 21, 2008.
Jump up ^ "Health Care Talks with Provinces Should Top Harper’s List, Poll Finds". The Globe and Mail. June 2, 2011. Others on that list [of candidates for Speaker] – Saskatchewan Tory MP and perceived frontrunner Andrew Scheer [...]
Jump up ^ "NDP MP Aims to Be Second Female Speaker in History". National Post. May 21, 2011. It's widely speculated, however, that a Conservative is going to get the position, and Andrew Scheer, who has served as Assistant Deputy Speaker and Deputy Speaker for more than five years, is considered the frontrunner.
Jump up ^ Mas, Susana (March 24, 2013). "Russian Sanctions Against Canadians a 'Badge of Honour'". CBC News. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
Jump up ^ Elections Canada, Official Voting Results, October 19, 2015.
Jump up ^ "With MacKay out, Scheer steps down as House leader to explore Tory leadership run". Retrieved September 22, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Andrew Scheer announces support of 20 members of Conservative caucus as he makes leadership bid official". Retrieved September 28, 2016.
Jump up ^ Payton, Laura (January 10, 2017). "Andrew Scheer's Conservative leadership plans: moving beyond 'debate club'". CTV News. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
Jump up ^ Krayden, David (May 21, 2017). "As Conservative leadership race wraps, the party's in good hands". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
^ Jump up to: a b c Dehaas, Josh (February 1, 2017). "Where 14 Conservative leadership candidates stand on social issues". CTV News. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
Jump up ^ Campaign Life Coalition. "MP Andrew Scheer". Archived from the original on May 2, 2017. Scheer has an impeccable voting record on life & family issues during his long career as a federal MP.
Jump up ^ "Henry Morgentaler named to Order of Canada". CTV News. July 1, 2008. Archived from the original on May 28, 2017. I can't believe that this was done on Canada Day, a day we should be coming together," Regina MP Andrew Scheer told CTV.ca on Tuesday afternoon. "I think this actually debased the Order of Canada." Scheer, a Tory who describes himself as "pro-life," said he's planning to call members of the advisory panel that suggested the appointment and ask, "Why did you do this?
^ Jump up to: a b c Tuns, Paul (October 23, 2009). "Saskatchewan Tory MP Andrew Scheer values family". The Interim. Archived from the original on May 28, 2017.
^ Jump up to: a b "Andrew Scheer's path to leadership of the Conservative Party - Macleans.ca". 27 May 2017.
^ Jump up to: a b "Andrew Scheer's path to leadership of the Conservative Party - Macleans.ca". 27 May 2017.
Jump up ^ McGregor, Janyce (February 7, 2017). "'Andrew Scheer proposes tax-free maternity and parental benefits". CBC News. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
Jump up ^ "'Who is Andrew Scheer?". Retrieved May 27, 2017.
Jump up ^ Scotti, Monique (April 16, 2017). "'I think I have the best chance of winning' says Tory leadership hopeful Andrew Scheer". Global News. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Doctor-assisted dying bill restricted to adults facing 'foreseeable' death". CBC News. Archived from the original on May 30, 2017.
Jump up ^ Scotti, Monique (May 27, 2017). "Who is Andrew Scheer?". Global News. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
Jump up ^ Ibbitson, John (January 6, 2017). "Conservative Party's fortunes hinge on immigration policy". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
Jump up ^ Gyapong, Deborah (June 7, 2011). "New Speaker of the House has never hidden his faith". Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver. Retrieved May 28, 2017. About the bill to change the definition of marriage, he told the House, “(The bill) is abhorrent to me, to other Catholics and to every member of every faith community.”
Jump up ^ MacCharles, Tonda (September 28, 2016). "Ex-speaker Andrew Scheer announces bid for Conservative leadership". thestar.com. Toronto Star. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
Jump up ^ Stone, Laura (January 13, 2017). "Why Andrew Scheer could be the next Conservative Party leader". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
Jump up ^ Vieira, Paul (January 31, 2014). "Canada’s Speaker Has Stake in Seahawks Super Bowl Victory". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Regina Qu'Appelle Valley - Steve Ryan Seeking NDP Nomination".
External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Andrew Scheer
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Andrew Scheer.
Andrew Scheer – Parliament of Canada biography
Official website

Patrick Brown (politician) 2017 03 31

Patrick Walter Brown, (politician)



Political views




Brown characterizes himself as a 'pragmatic conservative' and has noted his limited support from labour unions.[citation needed]

During his Ontario PC Party leadership campaign, Brown was noted for his social conservatism,[3][4] and his criticism of Ontario's sex education in schools.[5] However, since his victory, he has been successful in pushing the Ontario PC Party towards the "political centre." [6] Patrick Brown would go on to become the first Ontario PC Leader to march in the Toronto Pride Parade.[7] At his first Ontario PC Convention as Leader, Brown confirmed his belief in anthropogenic climate change and announced his support for a revenue-neutral price on carbon.[8]

His new progressivism stands in contrast to his voting record from a decade ago. In December 2006, as an MP, Brown voted to repeal same-sex marriage in Canada.[3][9] Brown also voted against several bills between 2011 and 2013, which were aimed at amending the Canadian Human Rights Act to include gender expression and identity, and the Criminal Code, to prevent discrimination.[10] On September 26, 2012, Brown voted in favour of Stephen Woodworth's private member's bill to create a special committee to examine the legal definition of when a fetus becomes a human being,[11] which many argued would reopen the abortion debate in Canada. Brown did so, even though then Prime Minister Stephen Harper voted against the bill and said that Canadians did not want to reopen the abortion debate.[12][13] Since becoming Ontario's Progressive Conservative party leader, Brown has stated that it's not a provincial issue, and doesn't intend to revisit it in the Ontario Legislature.[14]

Patrick Brown's first Private Member's Bill in the Ontario Legislature, Bill 151 the Estate Administration Tax Abolition Act, was an attempt to eliminate the death tax.[15] His bill was voted down at Second Reading by the Liberal Government's majority.

His critics have called him 'policy-lite' since he made no policy statements during the Progressive Conservative leadership campaign.[16] Since winning the leadership race, he has focused his plan on four main issues which he suggests will lead to a more "prosperous province": less red tape, improved transportation corridors, affordable energy, and addressing Ontario's growing skills gap.[17]




Federal politics




In the 2004 federal election, Brown ran as the Conservative Party candidate in the riding of Barrie. He lost to incumbent Aileen Carroll by 1,295 votes.[19] Brown ran again in 2006 this time defeating Carroll by 1,523 votes.[20] He was re-elected in the 2008 election by 15,295 votes over Liberal candidate Rick Jones.[21]

In November 2010, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation expressed concern about how Patrick Brown used his Canadian House of Commons account. He sent flyers to his riding which included a letter of support and a flyer from Barrie City Councillor Michael Prowse. Brown used his House of Commons account to pay for the mailing because Michael Prowse could not afford to send the flyer out himself.[22]

In the 2011 election, Brown was elected to his third term in office.[23]

On September 28, 2014, he announced his intention to run in the 2015 Ontario party leadership election. He registered as a leadership candidate on November 20, 2014. He said that, unlike the other candidates, he was not involved in the four consecutive losses that have kept the Ontario PCs out of power since 2003.[24] At the time of his jump to provincial politics, he chaired the Conservative Party of Canada's Greater Toronto Area caucus and the Canada-India Parliamentary Association.[2]







Provincial politics



In September 2014, Brown announced his intention to run in the contest to replace PC Party Leader, Tim Hudak. From the outset of his campaign, Brown positioned himself as an outsider, challenging the leadership of the PC Party, which had been defeated in the last four provincial elections. In the most recent election campaign, in 2014, the party election platform included a commitment to "cut 100,000 government jobs". As the only one of the original five leadership candidates who was not a member of the Ontario legislature, Brown claimed not to have been involved in the promise, which he considered "ill-advised",[24][25] despite attending the announcement in his home riding.[26] Brown's rivals attempted to use this same lack of previous involvement in provincial politics as an argument against his leadership bid.[27][28]

In March, Brown emerged as the front-runner in the leadership election, having sold over 40,000 of the 70,000 memberships in the party.[29][30][31][32] During the campaign, Brown was successful in bringing many new members to the party. The past four leadership contests had been won by those who sold the most memberships.[33]

Brown was endorsed by the Campaign Life Coalition and the Ontario Landowners Association.[34][35] During Brown's leadership bid both special interest groups actively supported him by selling Ontario PC Party memberships amongst their members.[36][37]

Brown was criticized by his rivals and in the media for not resigning his federal seat during the leadership campaign.[38] Brown was frequently absent from the House of Commons for votes during the leadership campaign and had one of the worst voting attendance records in the Conservative Party caucus and of any MP between September to December 2014.[39] A spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed that members aren't expected to step down but are expected to "continue to fulfill their parliamentary responsibilities, including membership on committees and attendance at votes."[40]

The campaign started with five candidates including Vic Fedeli, Lisa MacLeod, and Monte McNaughton. All three withdrew in early 2015 citing membership recruitment or financial reasons. On May 9, 2015, Brown was elected leader, defeating his only remaining opponent, Christine Elliott, winning with 61.8% of the membership vote.[41][42]

Brown, who resigned his seat in the House of Commons on May 13, 2015, days after winning the provincial leadership, led the Progressive Conservative party from outside the legislature during most of the summer.[43] On July 22, 2015, Garfield Dunlop agreed to step down as MPP for Simcoe North on August 1 in order to open up a seat for Brown. A provincial by-election, called for September 3, 2015, was won by Brown.[44][45][46]

Khristinn Kellie Leitch, PC Ont MP controversy!

Canadian values controversy
As part of her leadership race campaign, Leitch sent out an email survey to subscribers making the suggestion of anti-Canadian value screening in order to gauge response from voters. In response, many Conservative Members of Parliament and strategists are criticizing Leitch for her position.[28] Michael Chong, a Conservative MP for Wellington-Halton Hills and an opponent of Leitch in the leadership race, spoke out against Leitch’s proposal, saying that it, “does not represent our Conservative Party or our Canada”.[28] Despite the censure, Leitch has stood by her proposal. In a September interview with the Canadian Press, Leitch made the following statement in response to the backlash she had been receiving: “I don’t think it’s intolerant to believe in a set of values that we expect everyone to share here and include those people who are coming to visit or immigrate to Canada”[29] Former staffers of Leitch have criticized the approach she has taken throughout the leadership campaign. Andrew McGrath, a former press secretary to Leitch when she was in cabinet, responded to her overnight pitch with disappointment on social media. "You were status of women minister,” McGrath posted to Leitch on Twitter. “Shame on you.”[30]

Leitch proposed screening visitors, refugees and immigrants for "Canadian values" initially not specifying what that would entail, but later detailed out what it would mean. This process would include face to face interviews by trained immigration officers with 100% of immigrants, rather than the 10% or so that happens now, with questions pertaining to their views on whether Canadian law should be only set of laws that applies to all Canadians, hate speech, violence, and equality between genders, sexual orientation, religious & political views.[31]

Leitch’s policy stances also faced similar controversy and criticism back in October 2015 during the federal election, where she and fellow Conservative MP and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander pledged support and funding to establish a tip-line for Canadians to call in regards to what they called “barbaric cultural practices".[32] Leitch has since made an effort to apologize for her role in the proposed legislation, saying that she regrets her decisions.[33] For many, including Conservative strategist Chad Rogers, Leitch’s proposed immigrant screening seemingly follows the same rhetoric, and Rogers goes as far as calling on Leitch to withdraw from the Conservative leadership race.[28]

In a November 9, 2016 interview with Toronto Life magazine, Leitch would not confirm nor deny that her proposed Canadian values test would apply to Catholic immigrants who opposed Canada's acceptance of same-sex marriage, and stated that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was "for Canadian citizens." In the same interview, she cited the belief that gays should not be sentenced to death as an example of one such Canadian value.

have a feeling the following clip will give us some idea what a President Trump White House press conference will be like. This clip is from The West Wing.

I have a feeling the following clip will give us some idea what a President Trump White House press conference will be like. This clip is from The West Wing. The issues are a bit dated however the techniques shown and the lack of finesse makes my point. If the Trump communications team had bothered to watch the clip, they would never have let him give that press conference last week. This is why you don't mess with the media.

the UK Supreme Court case information regarding the Article 50 Brexit protocol. Basic question, do you need to get Parliament's OK before triggering Article 50 procedures?

the UK Supreme Court case information regarding the Article 50 Brexit protocol. Basic question, do you need to get Parliament's OK before triggering Article 50 procedures? Info link here


https://www.supremecourt.uk/news/article-50-brexit-appeal.html
The second link is the web cast of the proceedings. They had to break it up into multiple sections because of the sheer volume of the interested parties. I will leave the link to that here as well

https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2016-0196.html
The set up of the Supreme Court of the UK looks extremely familiar. Little known fact, we helped the UK set it up. They used Canada, New Zealand and Australia as a template.

For those still interested in moving out of the United States, I wouldn't procrastinate.

For those still interested in moving out of the United States, I wouldn't procrastinate. I'd start packing now while you still have a rational president. After January 20th, 2017, I don't know what is going to happen. Hopefully, you have already filled out an application to begin the immigration process to whichever country you want to move to. This process takes time. The process may take less time if you are married to or have a significant other of the same nationality of the country you are moving to. And then there is Trump's pick of VP, Mike Pence who is about as anti-LGBTQ2+ as you could get. I post this note now because today we learned that the eldest members of the Trump family will have a better than top secret security clearance and a white nationalist has been given the job of White House Chief Strategist. Complacency is not your friend.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner battery problems From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Boeing 787 Dreamliner battery problems
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The grounded Japan Airlines 787 at Boston Logan Airport
In the Boeing 787 Dreamliner's first year of service, at least four aircraft suffered from electrical system problems stemming from its lithium-ion batteries. Although teething problems are common within the first year of a new aircraft design's life, after a number of incidents including an electrical fire aboard an All Nippon Airways 787, and a similar fire found by maintenance workers on a landed Japan Airlines 787 at Boston's Logan International Airport, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a review into the design and manufacture of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, following five incidents in five days involving the aircraft, mostly involved with problems with the batteries and electrical systems. This was followed with a full grounding of the entire Boeing 787 fleet, the first such grounding since that of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 in 1979.[1] The plane has had two major battery thermal runaway events in 52,000 flight hours, which was substantially less than the 10 million flight hours predicted by Boeing, neither of which were contained in a safe manner.[2]

The National Transportation Safety Board released a report on December 1, 2014, and assigned blame to several groups:[3]

GS Yuasa of Japan, for battery manufacturing methods that could introduce defects not caught by inspection
Boeing’s engineers, who failed to consider and test for worst-case battery failures
The Federal Aviation Administration, that failed to recognize the potential hazard and did not require proper tests as part of its certification process
Contents  [hide]
1 Timeline
2 Groundings
3 Solution
4 See also
5 References
Timeline
In December 2012, Boeing CEO James McNerney told media outlets that the problems were no greater than those experienced by the company with the introduction of other new models, such as the Boeing 777.[4] However, on January 7, 2013, a battery overheated and started a fire in an empty 787 operated by Japan Airlines (JAL) at Boston's Logan International Airport.[5][6] On January 9, United Airlines reported a problem in one of its six 787s with the wiring located in the same area as where the battery fire occurred on JAL's airliner; subsequently, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board opened a safety probe.[7]

On January 11, 2013, the FAA announced a comprehensive review of the 787's critical systems, including the design, manufacture and assembly of the aircraft. U.S. Department of Transportation secretary Ray LaHood stated the administration was "looking for the root causes" behind the recent issues. The head of the FAA, Michael Huerta, said that so far nothing found "suggests [the 787] is not safe".[8] Japan's transport ministry also launched an investigation in response.[9]

On January 16, 2013, an All Nippon Airways (ANA) 787 made an emergency landing at Takamatsu Airport on Shikoku Island after the flight crew received a computer warning of smoke present inside one of the electrical compartments.[10][11] ANA said that there was an error message in the cockpit citing a battery malfunction. Passengers and crew were evacuated using the emergency slides.[12] According to The Register, there are no fire-suppression systems in the electrical compartments holding batteries, only smoke detectors.[13]

US-based aviation regulators' oversight into the 2007 safety approval and FAA certification of the 787 has now come under scrutiny, as a key US Senate committee prepares for a hearing into the procedures of aviation safety certification "in coming weeks". However, an FAA spokesperson defended their 2007 safety certification of the 787 by saying, "the whole aviation system is designed so that if the worst case happens, there are systems in place to prevent that from interfering with other systems on the plane".[14]

On February 12, 2013 the Wall Street Journal reported that "Aviation safety investigators are examining whether the formation of microscopic structures known as dendrites inside the Boeing Co. 787's lithium-ion batteries played a role in twin incidents that prompted the fleet to be grounded nearly a month ago."[15]

On January 14, 2014, Japan Airlines said a maintenance crew at Narita Airport discovered smoke coming from the main battery of one of its Boeing 787 jets, two hours before the plane was due to fly to Bangkok from Tokyo. Maintenance workers found smoke and unidentified liquid coming from the main battery, and alarms in the cockpit indicated faults with the power pack and its charger. The airline said no other equipment was affected by the incident. The cause was not immediately known, and the airline is investigating the incident.[16]

In January 2014, a battery in a Japanese Airlines 787 emitted smoke from the battery's protection exhaust and partially melted while the aircraft was undergoing pre-flight maintenance. The cause of this latest incident remains under investigation.[17][18][19] Soon after this incident, the Guardian noted that 'The agency [US Federal Aviation Administration] also launched a review of the design, manufacture and assembly of the 787 in January last year and said its report would be released last summer, but it has so far not released the report and has not responded to questions about when it will be finished.'[20]

Groundings
On January 16, 2013, both major Japanese airlines ANA and JAL announced that they were voluntarily grounding or suspending flights for their fleets of 787s after multiple incidents involving different 787s, including emergency landings. These two carriers operated 24 of the 50 Dreamliners delivered to that date.[21][22] It was estimated the grounding could cost ANA over $1.1 million a day.[23]

Wikinews has related news: FAA orders review of Boeing 787 Dreamliners following week of incidents
On January 16, 2013, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an emergency airworthiness directive ordering all U.S.-based airlines to ground their Boeing 787s until yet-to-be-determined modifications were made to the electrical system to reduce the risk of the battery overheating or catching fire.[24] This was the first time that the FAA had grounded an airliner type since 1979.[1] The FAA also announced plans to conduct an extensive review of the 787's critical systems. The focus of the review was on the safety of the lithium-ion batteries[1] that use lithium cobalt oxide(LiCoO2) as the positive electrode. These electrodes are known for their thermal runaway hazard and provide oxygen for a fire. The 787 battery contract was signed in 2005,[25] when LiCoO2 batteries were the only type of lithium aerospace battery available, but since then newer and safer[26] types (such as LiFePO4) and LiMn2O4 (Lithium Manganate), which provide less reaction energy during thermal runaway, have become available.[27][28] The FAA approved a 787 battery in 2007 with nine "special conditions".[29][30] A battery approved by the FAA (through Mobile Power Solutions) was made by Rose Electronics using Kokam cells,[31] but the batteries installed in the 787 were made by Yuasa.[32]


Three All Nippon Airways 787 aircraft grounded at Tokyo on January 27, 2013
On January 20, the NTSB declared that overvoltage was not the cause of the Boston incident, as voltage did not exceed the battery limit of 32 V,[33] and the charging unit passed tests. The battery had signs of short circuiting and thermal runaway.[34] Despite this, on January 24 the NTSB announced that it had not yet pinpointed the cause of the Boston fire; the FAA would not allow U.S.-based Dreamliners to fly again until the problem was found and corrected. In a press briefing that day, NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman said that the NTSB had found evidence of failure of multiple safety systems designed to prevent these battery problems, and stated that fire must never happen on an aircraft.[35] The Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB) has said on January 23 that the battery in ANA jets in Japan reached a maximum voltage of 31 V (lower than the 32 V limit like the Boston JAL 787), but had a sudden unexplained voltage drop[36] to near zero.[37] All cells had signs of thermal damage before thermal runaway.[38] ANA and JAL had replaced several 787 batteries before the mishaps.[37] As of January 29, 2013, JTSB approved the Yuasa factory quality control[39][40][41] while the American NTSB continues to look for defects in the Boston battery.[42]

Industry experts disagreed on consequences of the grounding: Boeing's competitor Airbus was confident that Boeing would resolve the issue[43] and that no airlines would switch to a different type of aircraft,[44] while other experts saw the problem as "costly"[45] and "could take upwards of a year".[46]

Only two U.S.-based airlines operated the Dreamliner at the time – United Airlines and American Airlines.[47] Chile's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) grounded LAN Airlines' three 787s.[48] The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directed Air India to ground its six Dreamliners. The Japanese Transport Ministry made the ANA and JAL groundings official and indefinite following the FAA announcement.[49] The European Aviation Safety Agency also followed the FAA's advice and grounded the only two European 787s, operated by LOT Polish Airlines.[50] Qatar Airways announced it was grounding its five Dreamliners.[51] Ethiopian Air was the final operator to announce temporary groundings, of its four Dreamliners.[52]

As of January 17, 2013, all 50 of the aircraft were grounded.[52][53][54] On January 18, Boeing announced that it was halting 787 deliveries until the battery problem was resolved.[55] On February 4, 2013, the FAA permitted Boeing to conduct test flights of 787 aircraft to gather additional data.[56]

Solution
Ambox current red.svg
This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2016)
The Federal Aviation Administration decided on April 19, 2013 to allow US Dreamliners to return to service after changes were made to their battery systems to better contain battery fires.[57] Japanese authorities announced they were doing the same for their airplanes. The causes of the battery failures are still unknown. There is still concern that because the root cause of the fires were not identified, the solutions put in place by Boeing will not be able to cover the full range of possible failure modes. These include problems that may arise from poor systems integration between the engine indicating and crew alerting system (EICAS) and the battery management system [58]

In December 2014 the NTSB criticized the FAA, Boeing and the battery manufacturer for the faults,[59][60][61][62][63][64] as well as the performance of the flight data recorder.[65] The Japan Civil Aviation Bureau wants Boeing to redesign the battery.[66]

See also
Aviation portal
Lithium Ion Batteries and Safety
Lithium Cobalt Oxide - LiCoO2
Plug-in electric vehicle fire incidents (related to lithium-ion batteries)
UPS Airlines Flight 6, a crash caused by the thermal runaway of its lithium-ion battery cargo.
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