Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day says the Conservative government will press ahead with its new 'no-fly' list no matter what critics say.
"This isn't people who've jaywalked, this isn't people whose library cards are overdue. These are people who are known to be very serious threats against airlines or airline security," he told 麻豆影视net's Mike Duffy Live on Monday.
"If you fit that category, you won't be able to get on a plane, and rightly so."
The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (C-CAIR) has called for the Specified Persons list to be scrapped until some of its fundamental flaws are fixed.
"For a list that so severely impacts the civil liberties and mobility rights of the people -- that should be debated in Parliament," said Sameer Zuberi, the group's spokesman.
"The potential for abuse in this case is massive," said Ottawa lawyer Lawrence Greenspon.
The list took effect on Monday. There were no reported cases of anyone being turned away from a flight because they were on the list.
CSIS and the RCMP have compiled the list. The criteria for listing on it include:
- A person who is or has been involved in a terrorist group;
- A person who has been convicted of life-threatening crimes against aviation; or
- A person who has been convicted of one or more serious offences who may attack an air carrier.
Passengers over the age of 18 must carry one piece of government-issue photo ID or two pieces of non-photo ID. Starting Sept. 18, anyone who appears older than 12 must be carrying ID.
If a passenger's name pops up, the ticket agent will ask for permission to access their personal information from a database. They will cross-reference that person's date of birth, address and passport number. If their information differs from that of the person on the list, they'll be free to fly.
Transport Canada won't reveal how many names are on the list. People won't find out they're on the list until they show up at the airport.
C-CAIR fears the list could lead to racial and religious profiling and the blacklisting of innocent people.
"There's going to be mistakes made and people are going to be treated differently regardless of the fact that they haven't been proven to have done anything wrong," Greenspon said.
James Neal Monaghan has already had problems getting on flights in Canada and to the U.S.
He shares the same name as a reported IRA bomb maker.
"They've not said I'm a terrorist. They won't tell me anything about why this is happening," he said.
Monaghan would like to know if his name will be on the new no-fly list.
There are several appeal steps to getting removed from the list, if one feels they have been wrongfully included.
Security consultant Michel Juneau-Katsuya questions the effectiveness of the no-fly list and sees problems arising in court.
"I think it'll be very easy for any lawyers to probably dismantle this in court because basically what we're facing is an administrative sentence that has been given by bureaucrats on people we suspect might be sort of problematic or we suspect may cause some trouble," he told CTV. "That goes against our (justice) system."
Canada's list is supposed to be limited in terms of names, perhaps no more than 1,000. But some civil liberties groups are worried it might eventually be merged with the U.S. list.
With files from The Canadian Press
