News Release

2003-27
May 9, 2003
Ottawa, Ontario

Statement from Health Canada: Use of Scanner at Toronto Pearson Airport

Today there were erroneous media reports that a thermal scanner borrowed from the Singaporean government and installed earlier this week at Toronto Pearson International Airport was put in place for a photo op and has since been removed.

Here are the facts:

The scanner arrived on Tuesday and was calibrated for use. Since being operational on Wednesday, the thermal scanner has been screening outbound international passengers at Terminal One;

At the request of the company that owns this valuable piece of equipment, the scanner was removed from its public location to protect it from potential tampering overnight;

The scanner is at Terminal One and operational and will continue to be used so we can determine its efficiency and effectiveness in controlling and containing SARS.

Tomorrow the scanner will be moved to Terminal Three for use at international arrivals and will remain there until the end of day Sunday.

12 thermal scanners - 6 for Toronto and 6 for Vancouver - will arrive in 7-10 days and be operational a few days after their arrival.

The Government of Canada would like to thank the Singaporean Government for providing this machine. We remain committed to ensuring that SARS is controlled and contained.

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Media Inquiries:
Farah Mohamed
Office of Anne McLellan
Minister of Health
(613) 957-1694

Ryan Baker
Health Canada
(613) 954-4807

Public Inquiries:
(613) 957-2991