Transport committee  Thank you. I entirely agree with Mr. Sela concerning part of his speech. The American agencies now dictate their requirements at the global level. That's partly because 50% of passenger flights are within the United States. The impact of those flights is very significant. The great concern I have about the transmission of U.S. standards is that the U.S. requires target nationalities to be given more screening, even in foreign countries such as Canada, and they identify those countries with a very broad brush.

Transport committee  Thank you. I think a powerful argument has been made by air pilots, members of Parliament, members of the armed forces, and members of the police who say they've already been through security clearance and there's no utility in having them go through the same line. If there is a previous government security clearance connected to that trusted traveller, then that makes sense to me.

Transport committee  Thank you. I'm not against systems. I'm not against systems by their very nature. I think there's a real opportunity. if not for greater coordination then for greater transparency among the different agencies. I think the way in which Canadians have decided to screen hold baggage is radically different from the U.S. way.

Transport committee  I think you have identified it perfectly. There's a fundamental disagreement at the philosophical level about the degree of risk that governments are willing to accept. The Americans want to try to have a zero-risk policy, which leads them to a sort of impossible standard. The Europeans have accepted a risk management perspective.

Transport committee  Thank you. I appreciate that. First of all, for the NEXUS program, the problem is not once you're in the system. The problem with uptake is the number of people applying for the system. It's not because of the actual giving up of information but the perceived giving up of information.

Transport committee  All right. I'll answer in English, since it's a complex matter. That's not to say that the other question wasn't complex also. The best practice for international security, as demonstrated by Mr. Sela, is precisely risk management, it is to identify those who are high risk and those who are trusted travellers.

Transport committee  Thank you. My understanding is that CATSA is running up a test bed on behavioural profiling. I would hope that CATSA would be able to provide some kind of data as to whether or not that's effective. I think the differences between Mr. Sela and I are clear. The one thing that will help with that is data--if this actually works in the Canadian context.

Transport committee  I appreciate that. I think “random”, and the fact that you have been selected, is good news, because it demonstrates that it's random. The issue with trusted traveller systems, if we look at NEXUS, for example, which is the example in the United States, is that we see extremely low uptake, because people are not willing to give up that much of their private information.

Transport committee  Wow. Thank you. That's very kind. I appreciate that there's someone other than my parents who has even looked at my book online. “Governmentality” is just a way of looking at the rules that guide the formation of other rules. One thing that speaks to the question of subcontracting is that modern government attempts to be as efficient as possible, and so when CATSA looked at the screening operations, they asked, is it more efficient for us to have these be federal employees or subcontractors?

Transport committee  I think this gets to the meat of my disagreement with Mr. Sela, and that's about behavioural profiling. I'm going to be as provocative as possible to make the distinction between the two arguments extremely clear. I do not believe one has behavioural profiling that is independent of culture.

Transport committee  Without question, there is a real dynamic at Canadian airports. Transport Canada describes the passenger protect list, which is immediate threats to aviation, and it is the airline agents who inform the passenger of their ability to board or not board the flight. They then phone a 1-800 number that connects them with the TC folks.

Transport committee  I'm going to answer in French, even though I don't know certain technical terms in that language. I'm sorry about that. First, there is an airport security system in Canada. It is a highly complex system because, at an airport, there are local police officers, border officers, investigators and auditors from Transport Canada, who audit CATSA's systems and procedures.

Transport committee  Thank you very much for the question. Mr. Sela can correct me if I misunderstand his point of view. He makes the argument—and I think it is one entirely appropriate for a country as small and, frankly, as vulnerable as Israel—that airport security needs to be integrated into the entire national security architecture.

Transport committee  Thank you. I'd like to thank the committee for the invitation to speak here today. I'll be making my presentation in English only, but I will be able to answer questions in French. I have two serious concerns about the Canadian aviation security system that have nothing to do with the good work done on the front lines.