Remarks by Jacques Duchesneau, C.M., President and CEO, Canadian Air Transport Security Authority

Senate Special Committee on the Anti-Terrorism Act
November 14, 2005

Check against delivery

Madame Chairperson, Honourable Senators.

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.

The review process in which you are engaged is one of extreme importance.

Recent history has shown us that the threat of terrorism is only too real.

However, in a democratic society such as ours, we need to strike a fine balance between security and individual civil liberties.

Your work is all about where best to draw that line.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority - or CATSA --is a key link in a chain of agencies that work to protect Canadians from acts of terrorism.

CATSA delivers security with highly-trained people who balance thorough screening with customer service and respect.

First, a quick primer on who we are and what we do.

CATSA is a Crown corporation that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Transport. Transport Canada is our regulator. CATSA executes the mandate.

We were created on April 1, 2002 to ensure that air travel and airports in Canada are secure against criminal or terrorist attack.

A little more than three years after CATSA's creation, I can confidently tell you that we are accomplishing what we were set up to do.

Every year, at 89 airports across this vast land, over 4,300 highly trained officers screen more than 37 million passengers and nearly 60 million pieces of luggage. We contribute to the funding for supplemental policing services at airports. And we contract RCMP to police selected flights.

Screening officers are CATSA's first line of defence at airports. They undergo extensive training, re-training and re-certification.

They represent over 100 linguistic backgrounds and a diversity of religious and socio-economic groups.

Our front-line officers are extremely sensitive to the diversity of the customers they serve, the people they help protect.

Whether they are people with special needs.

or people with different linguistic, cultural or religious backgrounds.

To complement our team of front-line officers, we deploy state-of-the-art equipment. By the end of this year, we will have deployed 2,500 pieces of the most current screening technology for checked baggage.

The most visible part of our current mandate is to screen passengers and their belongings. However, CATSA cannot arrest or detain anybody. We have no powers of investigation.

The most we can do is refuse permission to someone to pass through one of our screening stations. We work in cooperation with the local police, who are on-site at airports, if any further action is required.

We do not collect any information whatsoever on the passengers we screen. Screening officers do not screen for forged passports or other fraudulent travel documents. That responsibility is beyond CATSA's mandate.

We do, however, work closely with Transport Canada and our partners in air security to maintain a constant line of communication. Access to timely, actionable intelligence is critical. We rely on information to help us respond to threats and guide the innovation of our security system.

Advancements in a terrorists' arsenal can make our defences and detection techniques obsolete. Timely information gives us the capacity to assess threats and take preventive measures.

I should point out that the 9/11 Commission highlighted the fact that information not shared in a timely fashion is information wasted.

Part of our success as a security agency depends upon the timely information we obtain from Transport Canada and other security agencies.

At the same time, CATSA is a leader in bringing together international security agencies. We work closely with partners in Japan, Israel and Australia - just to name a few.

We share best practices and information on emerging threats.

This helps CATSA develop into an agile, efficient security expert.

Earlier, I talked about screening travellers and their baggage. That is the most visible part of our mandate. We also randomly screen - everyday -- some 2,300 airport workers who have access to restricted areas.

We are currently adding an enhanced layer to airport security. By the end of this year, we will have real-time, biometric identification systems in place in Canada's 29 largest airports. Our system of fingerprint and iris-recognition technology eventually will cover 120,000 airport workers.

CATSA was initially set up to re-establish the confidence of Canadians in their air travel system. Today, I can tell you we have succeeded. Canadians are now taking to the skies in greater number than ever before. Traffic figures today exceed pre-9/11 levels. That is the strongest indicator that Canadians feel safe.

Travellers themselves are telling us that they believe CATSA is doing a fine job. More than 90% of those surveyed last March said they were satisfied with the professionalism and process they experienced at our screening points.

And we do this with an admirable level of cost effectiveness. Over 90 cents of every dollar we receive is spent on front-line operations.

But this doesn't mean our task is finished. Events around the world, and especially the more recent terrorist attacks on civilian transportation systems in Madrid and London, confirm that our vigilance must never wane. Terrorists are finding more insidious ways to create mass devastation.

Fortunately, Canada has not been directly touched by a terrorist act. not since the Air India attack 20 years ago.

However. we know that the threat is real. And our task is just beginning.

Terrorists are creative and imaginative. This presents a constantly shifting landscape to security agencies, like ours.

We are a young organization. We are striving to mature into an agile, effective security expert.

To do this, CATSA must be strategic. we must be able to anticipate.

We need to respond more swiftly and effectively to mitigate threats.

We also need to be operationally flexible. We need to be able to shift funds and resources to the areas that present the most concern. We work every day to continuously improve and fulfill our mission to support the National Security Policy and become a world-class leader in air security.

As a security agency, security is CATSA's first and foremost duty. With that responsibility comes the commitment to respect the rights of each individual who comes through our screening stations.

We will continue to work closely with our regulator Transport Canada, as well as our other partners, including airlines, airports, police and of course passengers themselves.

Together we will ensure our standard operating procedures remain effective and flexible. efficient and at the same time respectful of the people we serve.

CATSA is the last line of defence before passengers and their belongings board an aircraft.

But we never lose sight of the fact that we are also a customer service organization.

That focus on customer treatment helps us strike the correct and essential balance between security and treating individuals properly.

Thank you for allowing me this time to speak with you. I would be pleased to respond to any questions you may have.