Remarks by Mr. Jacques Duchesneau
President and Chief Executive Officer

House of Commons Legislative Committee on Bill C-17

Thursday, February 13, 2003
Ottawa, Ontario

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Good morning ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for inviting us here today to speak about Bill C-17. This Bill touches a wide range of departments and agencies. I would like to outline to you our mandate and how C-17 affects our responsibilities.

As many of you know, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority or CATSA, took over responsibility for passenger and baggage screening on December 31st, 2002. I am pleased to report to you that the transition was seamless and successful.

Following the tragedy of 9/11, the Government of Canada acted quickly by committing $2.2 billion to further enhance air security and making CATSA the centerpiece of that commitment and the organization that I am proud to lead.

To illustrate just how seriously the government took these new threats to Canadian air transportation, our organization went from concept, to legislation, to funding in just a few short months. And we went from 0 to over 100 employees at our Headquarters and trained over 3,000 contract screening officers across the country in just 8 short months.

Not only did we establish an entire organization, we purchased and deployed equipment, we created and implemented new training programs for screening officers at 89 airports across the country. This is quite an achievement for a new organization.

The Summary of our 2nd Corporate Plan which sets out our actions to date and vision for the next five years will be tabled in Parliament in the coming months.

CATSA's mandate and responsibilities are divided into 6 main areas:

1. Pre-Board Screening or PBS of passengers and their belongings;
   
2. The screening of checked baggage which includes the purchase and deployment of Explosives Detection Equipment also known as EDS;
   
3. The Canadian Air Carrier Protective Program, which is the joint program with the RCMP for on-board security;
   
4. Federal assistance for air-security related airport policing;
   
5. The creation of an Enhanced Restricted Area Pass system to control access to restricted areas at airports and;
   
6. The select screening of Non-Passengers entering restricted areas at airports, like aircraft groomers, refuelers and other airside workers.

CATSA's budget over 5 years is approximately $1.9 billion. We are on schedule in assuming responsibility for each aspect of our mandate and our current forecasting has us on target in meeting our budget.

Since CATSA assumed responsibility for PBS, an additional 800 Pre-board screening officers have been contracted and as of December 31st, all 3,000 screening officers have received training to upgrade their skills to CATSA standards.

In addition, CATSA has introduced a new multi-level training and certification program for all new screening officers - effective January 1st, 2003.

This program requires new screening officers to follow a sequence of 3 formative stages that represent almost twice the training time of the American training program.

CATSA's training curriculum also provides on-going refresher training, performance testing and quality assurance programs at all levels to ensure continuous improvement and learning.

We continue to make great strides in enhancing air security in Canada. But as sophisticated as the technology may be, we can never forget that we will always need human beings to operate the equipment, human beings to interpret the data, and, most importantly, human beings to prevent terrorists from realizing their plans.

I believe that one of our greatest challenges is to make sure that whatever systems are put in place, and whatever "smart" technologies are employed, we never lose sight of the need for human intelligence in all that we do.
A portion of Bill C-17 enables government agencies to share human intelligence information to further enhance our air security system. While some have expressed concerns over the privacy of individuals, it is our understanding that the Privacy Commissioner has raised no objection to the primary purpose of certain sections of the bill that will allow the use of some personal information for anti-terrorist "transportation security" and "national security" screening. We have to balance the rights of Canadians for privacy with the collective right to having a secure environment.

Part of the Government of Canada's announcement in December 2001 was a commitment of $1 billion for the purchase, deployment and installation of Explosives Detection Systems. This new equipment will be used for pre-board and checked baggage screening. Our screening operations represent approximately 3/4 of our operating budget and serve over 3 million passengers a month.

Also included in our mandate is the Canadian Air Carrier Protective Program. In cooperation with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Transport Canada, CATSA serves as the Program Manager. This program was introduced to cover all flights to Reagan National Airport, and has since been expanded to cover, based upon a risk assessment, other domestic, transborder and international flights.

Another important responsibility is to contribute to the cost of air security related policing at airports. This bill will allow regulations to amend the CATSA Act to capture certain airports that are omitted by virtue of the current provisions. In short, this bill will permit us to enter into contribution agreements with additional airports.

In addition to the government's initial investment announced in 2001, CATSA continues to deploy and install new Explosives Detection Systems at airports across the country.

Some of this equipment is visible at pre-board screening and involves the swiping of carry-on luggage and electronics with a wand covered at the tip with a cotton tissue. This process detects trace elements of chemicals.

The screening of checked baggage has been raised on several occasions, most recently in the Senate Committee's report on air security. The current process we use in screening checked baggage is to locate the passenger when an anomaly is detected. If the passenger is not located, the bag does not travel. This is the case at all airports in Canada and for all destinations. Once the passenger is located, we get permission to open the bag. As you can appreciate, the location of the baggage handling facilities and EDS equipment varies from one airport to the other. In some cases, the passenger will witness the opening of the bag through video-conferencing.

This bill will also provide a benefit for passengers. It will regulate the ability of screening officers to access luggage in the event that the passenger is not located. Once the bag is cleared, the bag would be allowed to travel rather than remain behind. A notice would be placed in the luggage advising the passenger of the procedure. We will further develop this policy once we obtain that authority.

Another aspect of our mandate is related to non-passengers. While some countries are only beginning to implement a restricted area pass system for non-passengers, we already have a system and are in fact improving it. This system applies to airside personnel, including flight crews, refuelers, caterers, etc… The use of biometrics is being considered for this program.

We will also be expanding the select screening of non-passengers. We have created a working group comprised of airport authorities, airlines and Transport Canada to provide guidance and input into these programs. We value and appreciate the effort and collaboration of our stakeholders and partners.

The security of Canadians and the travelling public is our first priority.

I am convinced we all share the same goal: to have the best and most secure air transportation system in the world, one that ensures the security of our fellow Canadians.

We will continue to look at ways of improving our existing system by working closely with our regulator, Transport Canada, our partners and stakeholders.

As head of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, I am committed to working with all of you to ensure that we continue to maintain one of the best air transportation security systems in the world.

Thank you.