The Passenger Protect Program, Canada’s “no-fly list” came into force in June of 2007.

The government has repeatedly been called to produce and failed to produce one shred of evidence to support the proposition that no-fly lists increase aviation safety and security.

The current system was effectively implemented through stealth, was never debated and neither was spelled out nor seemingly even envisioned in the enabling legislation.

The legislative misfit with the program is so pronounced as to make it doubtful that this program is even prescribed by law for the purposes of the Charter. Even meeting that hurtle, it nevertheless still abrogates from an array of constitutional rights, most markedly section 7 and the utter failure to respect due process and procedural fairness.

It is long since past the time to end the silent bureaucratic implementation of security programs that so deeply affect the rights of Canadians and Canadian sovereignty; but the matter is all the more pressing because of even more invidious rights violations yet to come.

Author: Michael Vonn

The full policy paper on American and Canadia no-fly lists can be read here.