By John Ward
OTTAWA (CP) - Security at Canadian airports remains dismal more than five years after 9-11 and responsibility for the protection of travellers should be taken away from the Transport Department, a Senate committee is recommending.
A report released by the Senate defence and security committee Wednesday says the government should put the Public Safety Department in charge of airport security.
The Transport Department is great at moving people and things around efficiently, it says, but security isn't its job.
"There are still way too many holes in security at Canada's airports for any Canadian's comfort," says the 144-page report by the all-party committee.
The senators didn't single out any particular facility, saying they're all in bad shape.
Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon said airports are much more vigilant these days.
"I'm quite comfortable with what we've done," he said.
He plans to examine the Senate recommendations.
The report calls for tighter security, including daily checks of workers.
Senator Colin Kenny, the Liberal chairman of the committee, said it makes no sense to search every air passenger while conducting only random searches among the 100,000 people who work at airports, including baggage handlers, maintenance workers, refuellers and plane cleaners.
"Search 'em all," he said.
The senators complained that most of the tough recommendations produced in a 2003 report on airport security were met with "weasel words" from both Liberal and Conservative governments.
The report summarized government reaction: "More talking. More consulting. More thinking. But, if anything, even less urgency about fixing serious problems."
What improvements that have been made are "few and far between."
Even the Conservative government, which talks a tough law-and-order policy, is "for the birds" when it comes to airport security, Kenny said.
Security concerns have waned as memories of 9-11 fade, he said.
"As time goes by, people forget."
That's a bad attitude, he said, because terrorism remains a threat.
"Just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean it can't happen."
The report said the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority should take charge of security operations and the RCMP should handle security strategy.
"Then, perhaps, it wouldn't be taking years of consultation with stakeholders before half-measures get taken. Then, perhaps, full and responsible security measures would be put in place within a reasonable time frame."
The senators urged the government to bolster the RCMP by between 600 and 800 full-time equivalents so the national police force can expand its "security, investigative and analytical capabilities at airports."
Kenny said departmental responses to the committee's three-year-old recommendations were typified by "vagueness, obfuscation, non-response and seemingly endless procrastination."
The senators said they found little urgency about fixing problems they identified in 2003, including organized crime at airports, inadequate background checks and access control to aircraft and a lack of screening of mail and other cargo aboard passenger planes.
Baggage screening would have prevented the 1985 Air India bombing, which killed 329 people, Kenny said.
"Canadian airports and seaports are riddled with organized crime," says the report. "There have been some well-publicized arrests in recent years, but the police know that those caught only represent the tip of the iceberg."
The report said private aircraft terminals that operate on the periphery of airports should be subject to the same security regulations that govern regular terminals.
It also pointed out that on the West Coast, the scheduled floatplane service between Vancouver and Victoria harbours operates with no security checks of either passengers or baggage.
The senators say they cannot assure the public that the numerous gaps that remain in airport security are being treated with some degree of urgency by government and the relevant departments.
They acknowledged their last report is "gathering dust" but they said the public should at least know it is gathering dust and they asserted that "without public pressure, nothing gets done."
The Senate document was released as CBC reported chaos during a labour dispute at Calgary airport caused a serious breach in security last December when a rushed airline manager let 30 pieces of luggage fly to Houston without the owners on board.
Internal documents which CBC obtained under the Access to Information Act show that Transport Canada is investigating the incident, a direct violation of major international security rules Canada adopted after Air India
Continental Airlines has since issued an apology for its mistake last December, but in a scathing letter to the government agency in charge of security, Garth Atkinson, president of Calgary's airport authority, called pre-flight screening out of Calgary "the absolute worst in Canada."
Copyright © 2007 Canadian Press
OTTAWA (CP) - Security at Canadian airports remains dismal more than five years after 9-11 and responsibility for the protection of travellers should be taken away from the Transport Department, a Senate committee is recommending.
A report released by the Senate defence and security committee Wednesday says the government should put the Public Safety Department in charge of airport security.
The Transport Department is great at moving people and things around efficiently, it says, but security isn't its job.
"There are still way too many holes in security at Canada's airports for any Canadian's comfort," says the 144-page report by the all-party committee.
The senators didn't single out any particular facility, saying they're all in bad shape.
Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon said airports are much more vigilant these days.
"I'm quite comfortable with what we've done," he said.
He plans to examine the Senate recommendations.
The report calls for tighter security, including daily checks of workers.
Senator Colin Kenny, the Liberal chairman of the committee, said it makes no sense to search every air passenger while conducting only random searches among the 100,000 people who work at airports, including baggage handlers, maintenance workers, refuellers and plane cleaners.
"Search 'em all," he said.
The senators complained that most of the tough recommendations produced in a 2003 report on airport security were met with "weasel words" from both Liberal and Conservative governments.
The report summarized government reaction: "More talking. More consulting. More thinking. But, if anything, even less urgency about fixing serious problems."
What improvements that have been made are "few and far between."
Even the Conservative government, which talks a tough law-and-order policy, is "for the birds" when it comes to airport security, Kenny said.
Security concerns have waned as memories of 9-11 fade, he said.
"As time goes by, people forget."
That's a bad attitude, he said, because terrorism remains a threat.
"Just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean it can't happen."
The report said the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority should take charge of security operations and the RCMP should handle security strategy.
"Then, perhaps, it wouldn't be taking years of consultation with stakeholders before half-measures get taken. Then, perhaps, full and responsible security measures would be put in place within a reasonable time frame."
The senators urged the government to bolster the RCMP by between 600 and 800 full-time equivalents so the national police force can expand its "security, investigative and analytical capabilities at airports."
Kenny said departmental responses to the committee's three-year-old recommendations were typified by "vagueness, obfuscation, non-response and seemingly endless procrastination."
The senators said they found little urgency about fixing problems they identified in 2003, including organized crime at airports, inadequate background checks and access control to aircraft and a lack of screening of mail and other cargo aboard passenger planes.
Baggage screening would have prevented the 1985 Air India bombing, which killed 329 people, Kenny said.
"Canadian airports and seaports are riddled with organized crime," says the report. "There have been some well-publicized arrests in recent years, but the police know that those caught only represent the tip of the iceberg."
The report said private aircraft terminals that operate on the periphery of airports should be subject to the same security regulations that govern regular terminals.
It also pointed out that on the West Coast, the scheduled floatplane service between Vancouver and Victoria harbours operates with no security checks of either passengers or baggage.
The senators say they cannot assure the public that the numerous gaps that remain in airport security are being treated with some degree of urgency by government and the relevant departments.
They acknowledged their last report is "gathering dust" but they said the public should at least know it is gathering dust and they asserted that "without public pressure, nothing gets done."
The Senate document was released as CBC reported chaos during a labour dispute at Calgary airport caused a serious breach in security last December when a rushed airline manager let 30 pieces of luggage fly to Houston without the owners on board.
Internal documents which CBC obtained under the Access to Information Act show that Transport Canada is investigating the incident, a direct violation of major international security rules Canada adopted after Air India
Continental Airlines has since issued an apology for its mistake last December, but in a scathing letter to the government agency in charge of security, Garth Atkinson, president of Calgary's airport authority, called pre-flight screening out of Calgary "the absolute worst in Canada."
Copyright © 2007 Canadian Press
