Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Fly The Friendly Canadian Skies!

From the good people at canada.com:

OTTAWA (CP) - Being a member of a terrorist organization won't necessarily land someone on Canada's no-fly list, The Canadian Press has learned. Proposed criteria would limit inclusion on the roster to those who pose "an immediate threat to aviation security," say internal briefing notes prepared by Transport Canada. Draft regulations, disclosed by a source familiar with details of the plan, confirm the no-fly list will be tightly focused and reviewed every 30 days to keep it up to date. "You cannot be put on the list on the sole basis that you're a member of a 'terrorist group'," said the source. "In addition, you have to be a demonstrable threat to aviation safety."

Are they serious? How will they know what a "demonstrable threat" is until the person gets on a plane and decides to bring it down? How bizarre will it be to see every Canadian airport on that sign listed with Lagos, Nigeria? ("The US Secretary of State has determined that the following airports do not provide adequate aviation security...")

Our system may be crazy, but THAT is NUTS.

1 comment:

Geoff said...

Considering that before Sept. 11, the names of all the potential bombers was known, and they were indeed known to be plotting something, I think it's safe to say that it's not beyond CSIS or the CIA to know who's a threat, and who's not a threat.

Albeit... there is always spontaneous terrorism. What can I say? Canada's doing what Canada does best. Compromise.