Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Gentlemen, thank you for being here today. We had been waiting for you for some time. I very much enjoyed your presentations.
I'd like to start, if I could, by recalling what shocked Canadians in September in a series of articles in Le Journal de Montréal. A journalist had covertly entered restricted areas of a major Canadian airport, borrowed a non-passenger uniform, potentially tampered with food, accessed a secure tarmac, reached the runway perimeter, got behind the wheel of a ground vehicle, got airside by borrowing a genuine CATSA uniform from a former employee. For most Canadians who saw this story, there are some serious questions about the security of our airports.
Also in September, a former airport screener, hired and employed by the private company Garda, blew the whistle because he was concerned about Canadian airport security. He still had his uniform because no one had bothered to ask for it back. Garda refused to comment about the story, citing their contractual relationship with the government, and the minister, who was asked twice to comment on it, declined to comment and said nothing about it. Eight weeks later, on November 6, Garda's contracts were all renewed--28 airports, $220 million over two years to 2009.
I think you know where I'm going with this. I want to ask you about accountability. Our Senate colleagues on all sides of the House have been asking questions about this for two years.
First, what is CATSA's responsibility here? Second, who failed? And third, do you have enough money to do what you've been mandated to do as an organization?