Canadian officials may want to rethink their policies on flight security. The Toronto Sun reports that Canada will not block people from flying in, out, or within Canada just for the tiny little detail of belonging to a terrorist organization:

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," Transport Canada internal briefing notes say.

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,'" the source said. "In addition, you have to be a demonstrable threat to aviation safety."

Even if one discounted the 9/11 attacks as a warning to Western aviation in general, Canada shows a remarkable lack of concern for their citizens. Terrorists have hijacked airplanes for at least four decades now. Instead of screening people to deny access to acknowledged terrorists, Canada will need to institute stricter gate security and inconvenience everyone -- and still won't be able to guarantee that the known terrorists won't do something. A member of al-Qaeda could simply pull open a cabin door at 37,000 feet and have a good chance of killing everyone on board.

Travelers have been warned. (via Hot Air)

UPDATE: CQ commenters note that it's well-nigh impossible to open a cabin door in flight. Well, I meant that as one of many ways a terrorist could cause mischief in flight even without weapons or explosives ... but that turned out to be a bust. There are many other ways to cause serious problems, and that's not even figuring for the possibility of a ground crew member sneaking weapons or explosives on board -- which I am sure would be difficult, but still possible.

I agree with Malvolio -- why have a no-fly list if terrorists don't automatically qualify for it?

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Victoria B.C. November 2005 Toronto Sun: No-fly list to ignore terror ties Belonging to group won’t be enough to be deemed air threat Being a member of a terrorist organization won’t necessarily land someone on Canada’s no-fly lis... [Read More]

Tracked on July 17, 2006 9:55 PM