Evidence of meeting #10 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 40th Parliament, 3rd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was catsa.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Liberal
Bonnie Crombie Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
Okay, I'm just going to change tack for a minute because I do have a lot of questions I want to sneak in.
What's the radiation exposure to consumers with the scanners?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security Group, Department of Transport
I'm told the radiation exposure is about 50 times less than a cellphone.
Liberal
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security Group, Department of Transport
Fifty times less than a cellphone, and that's why I keep my BlackBerry--
Liberal
Bonnie Crombie Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
That's 500 times bigger than a cellphone.
So for people like us who travel perhaps 50 or 60 times each year, round trip, do you think the exposure is minimal?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security Group, Department of Transport
Well, I'm not a doctor, but Health Canada thinks there is no health issue whatsoever--
Liberal
Bonnie Crombie Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
Now, what if you were sick and undergoing chemotherapy or radiation already--
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security Group, Department of Transport
There is no x-ray.
Liberal
Bonnie Crombie Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
No, I understand, but would there be any further impact to, say, a woman receiving breast cancer treatment? Would that increase her risk? Would that change the risk?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security Group, Department of Transport
Again, I will only speak to the machine selected by CATSA. That's the one that was analyzed by Health Canada. There is no health issue at all with this machine. There are no x-rays. I have to emphasize that, because for some manufacturers that Mr. Volpe mentioned, they do emit x-rays, but this one does not.
Liberal
Bonnie Crombie Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
We want to go back to this selection process in selecting one contractor, in one second, but first I want to ask you, were cultural sensitivities considered in the decision-making process? Obviously some cultures pride themselves on their modesty and having to go through a full body scanner would be regarded as very intrusive.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security Group, Department of Transport
Because of those sensitivities, we left the machine as an alternate choice; it's between the machine or the pat-down if you are selected for secondary screening.
Liberal
Bonnie Crombie Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
Actually, I was travelling with my three children and we were selected for secondary screening--
Liberal
Bonnie Crombie Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
--so I'm not sure if that was a good use of resources.
Thank you.
Bloc
Roger Gaudet Bloc Montcalm, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Grégoire, earlier on, you did not clarify things to my satisfaction and I would like you to do so.
Is Transport Canada responsible for CATSA?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security Group, Department of Transport
CATSA reports to Parliament through the Minister of Transport. The Minister of Transport, Mr. Baird, delegated this responsibility to Minister Merrifield.
Bloc
Roger Gaudet Bloc Montcalm, QC
A little earlier, you said you had responsibilities for CATSA. So Transport Canada does not have responsibilities for CATSA?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security Group, Department of Transport
Yes. We regulate the way in which CATSA operates. We enact the regulations that they must comply with.
For instance, if we decided today that they have to carry out secondary searches on 100% of passengers, they have to comply. In that sense, yes, of course, we have a very significant responsibility.
Bloc
Roger Gaudet Bloc Montcalm, QC
So let me ask you directly: are the people at CATSA doing their jobs?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security Group, Department of Transport
I think they are.
What I have not yet mentioned is that we also have inspectors who do infiltration tests on the system across the country. It can be at search points, with luggage or elsewhere in airports to check access points.
So, as regards the work of the people at CATSA, we have inspectors who anonymously attempt to bring prohibited objects through and who check to see whether they are detected by CATSA screening officers.
