Canada on Air Port Security

[handslive]

I saw this in link in Crypto-gram: The Myth of Security at Canada's Airports.

Numerous hilarious bits from just the first 3 sections of the paper (it's quite long).

In the United States, armed “sky marshals" brief crews on everyone's responsibility if an incident occurs. Not in Canada. Not all members of flight crews must even be advised as to when an APO is on board. What does an uninformed flight attendant do if she or he sees an unknown person rise with a gun in his hand? Get out of the way? Or hit him with a wine bottle? Nobody knows.

---

William Elliott, Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security Group, Transport Canada, Dec. 2, 2002. "I think that certainly mail is an area of concern. There is one distinguishing characteristic of mail as opposed to passengers, and that is, generally, if I mail something, I do not know what airplane it is going to be on."
Sen. Kenny: "This Committee has received testimony that it is possible, simply by the timing of taking a parcel to the airport, to ensure that it will be on a certain flight."
Mr. Elliott: "We have requirements in place that should prevent that."
Sen. Forrestall: "I have the sometimes pleasant, sometimes unpleasant, task of shipping lobsters, and I want someone at the airport to meet that flight. So far, I have not had any problems. How did I do that?"

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Passes, too often, are not checked. But even when they are checked, in most airports they are simply checked for photo resemblance, and against a list of numbered passes that have been designated as defunct.
...
Incredibly, the system in most general use since September 11, 2001, is not designed to check against numbers that somebody makes up.

I've attempted to duplicate the emphasis used in the original PDF for these quotes. That's right, this is actual language from an official study done by the federal government. Some of these things make me snicker.

Comments

Hilarious!

[puppytown.livejournal.com]

Tommy Banks rocks, dude. I have to say, most senators are much more laid back than the usual uptight mf-ers.

I vote that stewards hit unruly passengers with wine bottles.

[puppytown.livejournal.com]

And how funny is it that one of the sections is titled "PLASTIC KNIVES DON’T CUT IT"?

Indeed.

[handslive.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I forgot to put that bit in.

The whole introduction read more like a well composed /. entry, frankly. Which is just weird.

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

This is unrelated, however: I want you to write me a secrets vignette for a character in a science fiction book universe you've liked. That's my challenge to you, personally.

There. *cracking the whip*

-J