Guns are bad! Better not let them into Canada!
What a bunch of idiots our politicians are.
No guns for our airline pilots
Collenette firmly shoots down idea of arming crews to deter
terrorists
Glen McGregor
� Copyright 2002 The Ottawa Citizen
Tuesday, December 03, 2002
Transport Minister David Collenette yesterday doused any possibility of
arming Canadian airline pilots and said he is concerned about U.S. pilots
flying into Canada carrying guns.
Under a law that came into force last month, American pilots will be
allowed to carry firearms in the cockpit on a voluntary basis, once they
are properly trained and certified. The rule also applies to
international routes, which means pilots could be armed on flights
arriving in Canada from the U.S.
But Mr. Collenette says that there are "cultural differences"
between the U.S. and Canada over guns and says he stands "totally
opposed" to putting pistols in pilots' hands.
"We want that individual to focus on being a pilot, not a law
enforcement officer," Mr. Collenette said during testimony before a
Senate committee studying airline security.
"What's the next step, arming bus drivers, subway drivers, taxi
drivers? Pretty soon we're going to end up with a firearms regime very
much like our American friends. I would say we have a better society here
because we have stricter gun enforcement laws."
But Mr. Collenette will have to address the topic in discussions with
counterparts in the U.S. administration because of the border issues the
new law creates.
Currently, peace officers from the U.S. -- including the undercover air
marshals -- can carry weapons into Canada under a memo-of-understanding,
but Mr. Collenette said he does not consider pilots to be peace officers.
He says Transport Canada will have to negotiate an agreement with the
U.S. Transportation Security Administration, which will run the
program.
"We cannot prevent U.S. carriers from having pilots that are armed
flying over Canada or to Canada," he said. "But the moment that
plane lands on Canadian soil, the plane and crew are subject to Canadian
law."
But the lobby group that led the drive to arm pilots in the U.S. says it
believes that pilots could be included under existing agreements because
the pilots who volunteer for the program will become deputized as federal
flight deck officers under the same jurisdiction as air
marshals.
"We would anticipate the same sort of requirements for our federal
air marshals would apply to our pilots as well," said Capt. Marc
Feigenblatt of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance. Provisions could
also be made to have the pilots stow their weapons either in an airport
armoury or in a locked safe in the aircraft, as air marshals currently do
in some countries, Capt. Feigenblatt said.
The pilots will likely be carrying heavy artillery when they come: There
are two weapons under consideration for use -- the SigSauer P229, a .357
pistol currently used by air marshals, and the Glock 23, a .40 calibre
pistol popular in police forces.
Capt. Feigenblatt estimates as many as 60 per cent of all U.S. pilots
will volunteer for the program. With two pilots flying most aircraft,
that percentage will put a gun in every cockpit on average.
The level of support appears weaker among Canadian aviators. The Air
Canada Pilots Association recently polled its members and found that a
majority did not want guns. But many felt they would like to have the
option of carrying non-lethal weapons such as Tasers, which discharge an
incapacitating but harmless electric shock. The union would prefer to see
a double-door system installed in cockpits to keep intruders
out.
The other major pilots union, the Canadian wing of the Air Line Pilots
Association, is also lukewarm to the idea.
"In Canada we don't feel this is an issue culturally, nor
security-wise is it a requirement," said ALPA's Art Laflamme.
"It's not something we're pursuing right now."
In his testimony to the Senate committee on National Security and
Defence, Mr. Collenette noted that he had also shown similarly strong
opposition to the idea of Canadian air marshals program in the weeks
following the terrorist strikes on the U.S. But Canada was forced by the
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to start putting armed RCMP officers
on flights into Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., and the
program was later expanded to other select international and domestic
flights originating in Canada.
"In a civil society, surely we should be ensuring the security is
tough so (terrorists) don't get on planes and objects don't get stowed
and the cockpit is secure," he said yesterday.
_______________________
Scott MacLean
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