The Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities Act came into force in July 2019. The Act helps to manage the risk of someone being harmed or tortured by a foreign body based on information shared by the Government of Canada. As required by the Act, the Minister of Transport issued Directions to the Deputy Minister of Transport on September 4, 2019.
The Directions asked Transport Canada officials to:
- Not share information with a foreign body that could lead to someone being harmed or tortured, unless the risk can be managed
- Not ask for information from a foreign body that could lead to someone being harmed or tortured, unless the risk can be managed
The 2019 Directions also ban some use of information that was obtained through harm or torture.
As required by this new regime, the Deputy Minister of Transport has delivered this annual report to the Minister of Transport and to relevant external review agencies. The report covers the roll-out of the Directions for calendar year 2019.
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Information sharing and governance
Background
The 2019 Directions apply to activities under the Secure Air Travel Act (SATA), in the context of the Passenger Protect Program.
The Passenger Protect Program is managed by Public Safety Canada and Transport Canada’s Aviation Security Directorate, in cooperation with several other federal departments and agencies. The Program’s goal is to keep individuals who could pose a threat to national security from boarding a plane. To do this, we work with air carriers to screen passengers travelling to, from and within Canada. As allowed by the Secure Air Travel Act, we disclose information to air carriers, including:
- an electronic copy of the SATA List (sometimes called Canada’s “No Fly List”), and
- any decision made by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness that either denies or allows a person to use transportation (in other words, to allow boarding, deny boarding, or require more screening)
Risk assessments
As required by the 2019 Directions and the Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities Act, Transport Canada developed an internal policy to make sure that matters can be referred to the Deputy Minister. The Deputy Minister will assess and decide whether to share information when there is a serious risk of harm.
The Aviation Security Directorate actively monitors risks related to the Act, and handles them according to the requirements of the 2019 Directions. As such, the Directorate monitors arrangements with foreign bodies based on a number of factors, including human rights and risk of mistreatment.
Given that Transport Canada only gives a small amount of information to a foreign body (in the context of the Passenger Protect Program), the risk of harm is currently considered low. The information we share is only about the Ministerial Directive to deny or allow boarding, or to do more screening.
Updating policies and procedures
The Government of Canada is improving the Passenger Protect Program, which will help further reduce the risk of harm. Under the improved Program, passenger security screening will be centralized and controlled by the Government of Canada ahead of departure times, via an electronic portal.
Since air carriers will no longer be responsible for dealing with matches to the SATA List, foreign bodies won’t need access. This will help make air travel more secure, and protect passenger privacy. This new process should be in place in late 2020.
Transport Canada is committed to protecting human rights, and will monitor our information sharing practices to make sure they follow Ministerial Directions, our legal duties and internal policies.
Cases of serious risk
During this reporting period, the risk assessments done by the Passenger Protect Program found no cases that included a serious risk of harm by foreign entities. As such, no cases were referred to the Deputy Minister.
To date, the Department’s sharing of the SATA List with air carriers has not led to any known harm to someone by a foreign entity.