Imagine you’re flying to Cuba for a vacation. You come up to the airport in Canada, and you put your ticket in. You’re told you can’t board the plane: the Americans have barred you from the flight. But you aren’t going to the States. You’re going to Cuba.
According to new legislation (link) being pushed by the Conservative government, situations like this could soon be a reality. Any Canadian that flies over US airspace, even if they don’t land in that country, would be subject to checks against American no-fly lists.
This means that all Canadians travelling to South America and the Caribbean would be affected. As would some Canadian travelers to Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. And those lists the Americans use? They’re so faulty that among the alleged terrorists are newborns (link) and US Senators (link).
The conservative government should take a stance against this American idiocy. We have our own security and intelligence. We have our own airport security. The Americans should have no right to interfere with a Canadian passenger on a Canadian plane leaving from a Canadian airport traveling to a destination that isn’t the US.
I mean, imagine if another country was doing this. You need to fly over Sudanese airspace to get to South Africa. Should Sudan be able to dictate who goes on the flight based on faulty lists that are ridiculed the world around? There would be outrage. But because it’s the Americans doing this, we remain silent.
Comments
2 responses to “American Interference with Canadian Travelers”
Um. This is already an issue for Canadians.
If you have a criminal record, you cannot fly over American airspace.
Don’t ask how or why I know this, but I know it to be a fact.
This is a legitimate concern on the part of Canadians and of the citizens of every country.
What about traffic in the opposite direction? People who wish to come to Canada from Mexico or South America for instance. Will the Americans have no-fly-lists for everyone coming in from these countries also? Logistically we have already observed errors on the American ”lists”. However the major argument comes not from these ‘errors’, but from the immoral and chaotic states of immobilization and loss of national autonomy that such actions would permit. Would Canada dare apply the same rules to anyone whose final destination was the U.S. but who might first need to either make a connection from Canada or fly over Canada to enter the U.S.? You’re absolutely correct in stating that this Conservative government needs to make a firm stance and NOW.