On November 23rd, 2010, the CCLA appeared before the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, recommending that Bill C-42, in its current state, should not pass. Bill C-42 allows Canadian airlines to provide passenger information and PNRs (Passenger Name Records) to the US Transport Security Administration. The information is for Canadian flights that “overfly” the US (e.g. Canada to Mexico), and not for point-to-point Canadian flights that may enter US airspace (e.g. Toronto – Vancouver). As written, there are “no legal safeguards”, stated Nathalie Des Rosiers, CCLA General Counsel, and without legal safeguards and oversights in place, to ensure the protection and proper use of the personal information of Canadians, “this is a dangerous bill.” To read CCLA’s submissions please click here. To read CCLA’s responses to questions of the Committee, click here.
To read the ACTION ALERT, and/or to write a letter to your MP urging a vote against Bill C-42, click here
ACTION ALERT – Prepared by ICLMG:
MPs must reject Secure Flight legislation — Say No to Bill C-42 Members of the parliamentary transportation committee are on the verge of passing a new law that will have huge impacts on our privacy and charter rights — all so Canada can harmonize another flawed and dangerous travel security measure with the U.S. government. Bill C-42, would amend the Aeronautics Act to legally permit Canadian air carriers to provide your personal information to foreign states. The proposed legislation, which is being discussed today by Parliament’s transportation committee, is designed to satisfy the U.S. Secure Flight program. Secure Flight has been roundly criticized by international civil society groups because it requires that a hodgepodge of your personal information be transmitted to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security even if your flight only passes through U.S. airspace. For the vast majority of flights to and from Europe, the Caribbean and South America, Canadians will be asking permission from the U.S. government to travel. Canada has made many steps to harmonize airline security with U.S. programs but none has been good enough to prevent ever more draconian demands. Our severly flawed made-in-Canada “no fly” list was supposed to prevent the imposition of the U.S. list on Canada. But the benchmark has moved again to the point the U.S. must issue travel permissions to Canadians. Canada can still say no to Secure Flight. In fact we would be doing the world a favour by voting no to C-42 because of the enormous global concern about the program from other states, as well as various international bodies, including the United Nations. Because of our geographic location, Canadians have the most to lose from the imposition of Secure Flight rules on Canadian travel. It’s only right that Canada takes a stand now, before it’s too late. TAKE ACTION
Write to your Member of Parliament today to demand they reject C-42 as an unnecessary violation of the rule of law, privacy and due process, and a ridiculous imposition on Canada’s independence. DRAFT LETTER
Dear MP,
I’m writing to ask you to reject Bill C-42, an act to amend the Aeronautics Act to abide by U.S. Secure Flight rules that are controversial and unnecessary. I don’t think it is right or reasonable for Canadian airlines to have to ask permission from the U.S. before allowing travellers to board, even when those travellers are not heading to the United States — just flying over!
If U.S. airspace is supposedly imperiled by having unapproved Canadians on overflights, how long will it be before they are asking for the same information on domestic flights that pass over the United States, which is a great majority of domestic flights? Canada has made many steps to harmonize airline security with U.S. programs but none has been good enough to prevent ever more draconian demands. Our flawed made-in-Canada “no fly” list was supposed to prevent the imposition of the U.S. list on Canada. But the benchmark has moved again to the point the U.S. must issue travel permissions to Canadians.
The U.S. “no fly” scheme is essentially lawless. There is no due process, there is no independent adjudication and no effective redress. Such a fundamental undermining of the rule of law is a violation of both international law and the Canadian constitution. What is underway through Secure Flight – a new regime for airspace sovereignty that does not, to our knowledge, exist anywhere else in the world – would grind international travel and trade to a near standstill if every country in the world decided to reciprocate.
I ask you to please vote no to Bill C-42. Canada should show the world a positive example by rejecting the logic of the U.S. Secure Flight program. We would find many international allies by doing so, and you would be standing up for the privacy and charter rights of Canadians.
Sincerely, [Your Name]
