Grounded by Uncle Sam

>> American paranoia creeps north
with Canada’s no-fly list

by SAMER ELATRASH

The no-fly list introduced this month by the Canadian government is a result of “American pressure” and “is not good” for Canadian security services, says a government intelligence official.

The well-placed official, who spoke to the Mirror on condition that he and the department he works in not be identified, says federal regulation requiring airliners to use the list “panders to the U.S. It’s not useful for us. There are other ways for maintaining air security.”

The list, introduced by the Transport Canada on June 18, is estimated to comprise up to 2,000 names of people considered threats to aviation security. An advisory committee of Transport Canada, CSIS and the RCMP will review the list every month.

“I can say that people involved in developing the list [from intelligence departments] are certainly not thrilled. It feels to people that there’s pressure from the Americans to do a list,” the official says.

Threats real and perceived

U.S Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff has called for increased coordination between the U.S. and Canada on security measures, most recently asking for a joint no-fly list for people considered public health risks. “You’d have to ask him why he thinks a list is so good,” the intelligence official says. “When they have [U.S Senator] Ted Kennedy and [musician] Cat Stevens on the list, what use is it? The U.S is a big country, and I guess they feel safer with a list, so they want us to have one.”

Russ Knocke, spokesman for Secretary Chertoff, says he would not comment on a Canadian “domestic matter,” adding that Homeland Security hopes to better coordinate its efforts with Canada. “We have a protocol for working with Canada, but there are ways we can work to strengthen that,” he says.

Transport Canada says the list will make Canada more secure. “It’s just another layer of security for aviation protection,” says department spokesperson Julia Ukrintz. “There are countries all over the world that use watch lists.”

People who belong to terrorist groups or were convicted of violence on an airliner and are considered threats to aviation security will be grounded, says Ukrintz. The names are provided by CSIS and the RCMP.

“Transport Canada doesn’t know who’s a threat, so they come to us,” says the intelligence official. “We’re asked to give ideas.” Although members of his department who are involved in compiling the information feel the list was a political rather than a security measure, “it’s our job to give advice,” he says, adding that the information they would share must come from “multiple sources” and would not become as bloated as the U.S. no-fly list, which flags an estimated 44,000 names.

“We’ve learned from the experiences of our partners,” he says. “[The U.S.] list keeps growing and growing.”

Full disclosure

Reassurances from the government and security departments have done little to assuage critics who say the list might violate privacy rights and be abused. “It’s putting the freedom of liberty of Canadians in the hands of government officials. It’s passing punishment by a government officer without the intervention of the justice system,” says Salam Elmenyawi, president of the Muslim Council of Montreal.

Although Transport Canada says airlines are not allowed to share the list with foreign governments, critics say laws in other countries might require the airlines to disclose the lists. “The government has no control over what airlines do with these names,” says Joe Comartin, an NDP MP who sits on the national security parliamentary committee. “Under the Patriot Act, the airlines will give the names to the States. If someone is on that list, that person will be grounded.”

Isabelle Arthur, an Air Canada spokeswoman, refused to say whether or not Air Canada will share the list, saying she would not comment on “speculation.”

Another question is whether the new list will replace the notoriously inaccurate U.S. no-fly list used by Canadian airlines. U.S. law requires all airlines that use American airspace—as many domestic Canadian flights do—to use the U.S. list.

The list has so far grounded a former Canadian defence minister, several MPs, a newspaper editor and a high school teacher, who were told they matched names on the list. The Canadian no-fly list includes additional details, such as date of birth, to confirm a match.

Canadian airlines, such as Air Canada, will continue using the no-fly list for flights to the U.S. and over U.S. airspace, but Arthur would not say whether Air Canada will stop using the U.S. list domestically, and Transport Canada’s Ukrintz says it would be “[the airlines’] decision.”