Terms of Reference
Advisory Panel on the CATSA Act Review
Background
Aviation security has been an issue of importance for Canada. Significant improvements were made to Canada’s aviation security regime as a result of the
terrorist bombing of Air India in 1985. Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, the Government enhanced Canada’s counter-terrorism authorities, capabilities and preparedness. One of the most significant early announcements was the creation of a new Crown Corporation -- the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority or CATSA -- to be responsible for several core aviation security functions, including those associated with the screening of passengers and their on-board and checked baggage. Air carriers had been performing these screening functions, using private sector contractors.
The Government announced the creation of CATSA in the December 2001 Budget, as part of a $2.2 billion package of new funding for civil aviation security enhancements. Shortly thereafter, on March 27, 2002, the Canadian Air Transport Authority Act received Royal Assent. This new legislation assigned CATSA authority for:
The effective and efficient screening of persons who access aircraft or restricted areas through screening points, the property in their possession or control, and the belongings or baggage that they give to the air carrier for transport,
The management of funding agreements with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for the Canadian Air Carrier Protective Program and with airport authorities for enhanced airport policing, and
Other air transport security functions provided for in the CATSA Act or assigned to CATSA by the Minister. Assigned tasks currently include random screening of non-passengers accessing restricted areas at airports and managing the Restricted Area Identification Card (RAIC) program.
The Act requires CATSA to ensure consistency across Canada in the delivery of security screening and all other functions within its mandate.
The CATSA Act came into force on April 1, 2002 by Order in Council. CATSA’s governance structure includes an 11-member Board of Directors, including a Chairperson, all appointed by the Governor-in-Council. The Board appoints a Chief Executive Officer to be responsible for day-to-day management of CATSA and who is not a member of the Board. The Minister of Transport recommends appointments to the Board of Directors, may issue binding directives to CATSA, and may assign other air transportation security functions to CATSA.
Currently, CATSA staff number approximately 200, mainly at the Ottawa headquarters. CATSA delivers its screening responsibilities through contractors who hire approximately 4,000 screening officers who process more than 37 million passengers and workers and intercept more than 700,000 prohibited items annually at 89 airports.
Legislative Review Requirement
According to section 33 of the CATSA Act:
A review of the provisions and the operation of this Act must be completed by the Minister during the fifth year after this section comes into force.
The Minister must cause a report of the results of the review to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first fifteen days on which that House is sitting after the report has been completed.
Process
The Minister of Transport has appointed an Advisory Panel of three part-time members to conduct independent study and analysis, to undertake consultations, and to prepare a report with recommendations and observations.
The Panel will consult CATSA and Transport Canada, as well as stakeholders, including air carriers, airport operators, air travellers and other federal government departments and agencies. The Panel will hold meetings across Canada where individuals and groups can present their views. To assist those who wish to make submissions, the Panel will prepare a Guidance Document setting out key issues of interest to the Panel.
A full-time Secretariat established within Transport Canada will support the Panel.
Scope of the Panel’s Work
The Panel will be the Minister’s principal source of independent advice on the five-year review of the provisions and operation of the CATSA Act. The Minister is also seeking the Panel’s advice on future aviation security requirements and other developments that may impact on CATSA’s future operations. The Minister
has assigned the Panel tasks flowing from the independent review of the 1985 crash of Air India Flight 182, and acknowledges that the Panel may wish to make observations on other important matters that come to its attention during the course of its work.
- Review of Provisions and Operation of the Legislation
The primary aim of this five-year review of the CATSA Act is to ensure that the legislation provides a sound and adequate statutory basis for CATSA’s air transport security mandate. The Panel will review all the provisions of the CATSA Act and identify those provisions that the Panel considers require amendment, clarification, replacement, or deletion. The Panel will also identify the need for new provisions required to carry out CATSA’s air transport security mandate.
The Minister has asked the Panel to accord special attention to issues arising from the provisions of the legislation dealing with:
Governance and accountability, including the choice of the Crown Corporation model 1, and the responsibilities of the Minister, the Board of Directors, the Chairperson, and the Chief Executive Officer;
The delivery of core screening functions (direct, through screening contractors, or through authority to airport operators);
CATSA’s role in the funding of the RCMP’s Air Carrier Protection Program and with airport authorities for enhanced airport security;
The requirement for CATSA to conform with the CATSA Act provisions to deliver its screening functions effectively and
efficiently and to deliver all its functions in
a consistent manner across Canada;
The qualifications, training and performance of screening contractors and screening officers, and
The protection of information relating to air transport security or public security.
The mandate of CATSA remains consistent with the Government’s national security policy objectives, and therefore the Minister is not seeking the Panel’s advice on the expansion of CATSA’s mandate beyond air transport security functions.
[1]
The structure, organization and functions of government entities are the Prime Minister’s prerogative. The Panel will provide recommendations and observations on the appropriateness and effectiveness of the existing model in delivering CATSA’s air security mandate.
- Review of Future Aviation Security Requirements and Other Developments
Based on the Panel’s review of the provisions and operation of the CATSA Act, including matters with respect to mandate, governance, accountability and service delivery, the Minister is seeking independent advice from the Panel on a number of issues relating to CATSA’s future operations and requirements
2, including:
The impact of projected air transport passenger traffic volumes and patterns at Canadian airports with CATSA services;
Projected security requirements at Canadian airports with CATSA services;
New technology and screening/processing practices and their impact on equipment acquisition and maintenance requirements.
In its December 2001 Budget, the Government introduced the Air Travellers Security Charge (ATSC) to fund aviation security initiatives. Amounts raised by the ATSC are attributed to the Consolidated Revenue Fund and not directly to CATSA or any other government entity with security responsibilities. The work of the Panel will not extend to the current ATSC structure, level or impact on the aviation industry.
[2]
Advice is not being sought from the Panel with respect to funding sources, mechanisms and levels applicable to CATSA.
- Issues Arising from the Independent Review of the Air India Flight 182 Tragedy
On November 23, 2005, the Honourable Bob Rae provided the government his report on outstanding questions with respect to the bombing of Air India Flight 182. Mr. Rae recommended the following question for further study:
“There were grievous breaches of aviation security in the Air India bombing. Has Canada learned enough from the Air India bombing in terms of its public policy in this area, and what further changes in legislation, regulation, and practice are required?”
As part of the Government's response to Mr. Rae's report, the Minister of Transport is directing the Advisory Panel:
- to review the actions taken since 1985 to address the specific aviation security breaches associated with the Air India flight 182 bombing, particularly those relating to the screening of passengers and their baggage, and
- to advise the Minister on whether further changes are required in legislation, regulations or practice to specifically address these breaches.
In the course of conducting this work, the Panel will meet with the families of the victims of the Air India bombing to discuss the aviation security lapses in 1985.
- Other Issues
The Panel may inform the Minister of other important issues that come to its attention through its research, analysis or consultations.
Reporting and Timing
The Panel will prepare a report for the Minister of Transport that includes observations and recommendations on the provisions and operation of the CATSA Act and on the other issues falling within the scope of these Terms of Reference.
The Panel will submit its report by July 1, 2006, in order that the Minister may complete the legislative review by March 31, 2007, five years after the CATSA Act came into force.
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