Canadian Government to Pre-Screen Air Arrivals US-Style including returning Canadians
As if the next scheduled transfer of personal financial information to the IRS is not a bad enough omen for this date, a new assault will become an ingrained part of life in North America as of September 30, 2016.
While PMJT was whooping it up in Washington D.C., Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale announced changes in regulations that fall under the Customs Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. These changes are a part of implementation of the Beyond the Border: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness (2011). As must be ovbious by now, this nasty piece of business bugs me as much as FATCA does.
Airlines will now be required to provide advance and “real-time” information on anyone entering Canada by air to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), in order to cross-check with security agencies. In the event there are any discrepancies or concerns, a decision will be made prior to the time the traveller boards a flight.
This system, called the Interactive Advance Passenger Information (IAPI ) will give CBSA the authority to identify persons who are inadmissable to Canada. Projected costs are $10 million annually. IAPI will be used to make “board/no-board” decisions on all travelers prior to their departure. This parallels the U.S. system known as Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) operating since 2009.
The regulations will require airlines to have a secure data link with the CBSA in order to provide access to the required information in the prescribed format in a “real-time” basis, including any changes to the information that may occur. Wow, yet another possible place for information to be breached. Note that credit card information will be included (see below).
Passenger reservation information will have to be provided by air carriers or travel agencies to the CBSA at least 72 hours prior to departure. I presume that if the airline fails to provide the information, the traveller will be unable to board and will not be reimbursed for any money lost from being unable to travel (hotel, vehicle reservations, etc).
As published in the Canada Gazette, here is the information that the airline must provide to CBSA. I have bolded items that I am puzzled as to relevance (if there is any at all to begin with).
Since there is nothing inherently criminal or “terrorist” oriented about any of this information, I expect what is really important, is what the CBSA has in its records (and which I presume may originate from and/or able to be shared with the US, meaning first off, CBP, DHS, FBI, CIA, etc etc). Actually, just where will this information at CBSA originate? Metadata from NSA? US no-fly lists? Any verification necessary before being applied?
I wonder what is next – strip searches by airline employees before proceeding to security? I mean, after all, one can’t be too careful.
SCHEDULE
(Paragraph 5(e))Information About Persons in a Reservation System
1 Their surname, first name and any middle names
2 Their reservation record locator number
3 The date of their reservation and date their ticket was issued
4 Their itinerary, including the dates of departure and arrival for each segment of carriage
5 Information about their participation in a loyalty program and the benefits earned under the program, such as free tickets or upgrades
6 The number of the other passengers included in the reservation record and their surname, first name and any middle names
7 Contact information for each person mentioned in the reservation record, including the person who made the reservation
8 Billing and payment information, including credit card number and billing address
9 Information about the travel agent or agency, including the name and contact information
10 Code share information
11 Information about whether the reservation record has been divided into several records or is linked to another record
12 Their travel status, including travel confirmation and check-in status
13 Ticketing information, including the ticket number, automated ticket fare quote and whether a one-way ticket was purchased
14 Their baggage information, including the number and weight of their bags
15 Their seating information, including seat number
16 General remarks about the person in the reservation record, including other supplementary information, special service information and special service request information
17 The information referred to in paragraphs 5(a) and (b) of these Regulations
18 The history of any changes to the information referred to in items 1 to 17 of this schedule
So where is this leading? Accidental “US Persons” or former “US Persons” who didn’t cross a few t’s detained at airports?
“What is the purpose of your visit?”
“my grandmother died, so coming over for the funeral”
“I see you used to be an American”
“yes, here is a copy of my loss of nationality certificate”
“one moment”
“……”
“sir, we see back in 2011 you failed to file an x form, we’re going to need you to come with us”
“uh, really? uh, are those armed guards necessary? is this going to take long?”
Yep, I booked an international flight a couple of months ago and was told that my “current flight itinerary includes travel to a country that requires additional passenger information.” I provided the required information, because I want to go. Besides which, I’m sure all G20 nations already have all my personal data already so it’s really a moot point.
It’s a sad and depressing fact of life that privacy doesn’t exist any more. In fact, no one under the age of 30 has ever truly experienced privacy. In the US and the UK, some schools are collecting biometric data from the children. Ostensibly to make life easier for the kids, in case they forget their library cards at home, etc. But, of course, biometric data does not change and will forever be on record once recorded.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometrics_in_schools
This is why I cringe when people use fingerprints to lock their phones. Smartphones in general are a complete nightmare for anyone who values privacy, but that’s a rant for another day.
We live in a completely *&^%’d up world.
I should’ve mentioned that my flight is in October. (I don’t usually book so far in advance, but am travelling with a friend who’s using Airmiles for her ticket and I wanted to go on the same flight.)
Here’s the type of world this leads to Patricia:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/14/citizenfour-director-laura-poitras-sues-us-harassment-edward-snowden
Important to have the seat info so the individual can be greeted on the plane upon arrival.
Sorry, this is the (scary) article I meant to post above.
http://www.salon.com/2012/04/08/u_s_filmmaker_repeatedly_detained_at_border/
Plus Canada now requires its own version of esta.
I got one but thought my born in USA but no longer USC would cause problems
5 Information about their participation in a loyalty program and the benefits earned under the program, such as free tickets or upgrades
Several in Congress have made attempts to tax airline mileage points as income. Perhaps they are setting up the system for the eventual passage of such a provision, no doubt buried in a 2000 page bill and added 45 minute before the vote.
This is the way a lot of the Angry People want to live their lives. Governments of all stripes–LEAVE ME TO F–K ALONE. I want to be invisible to government and that is exactky what the U.S. and Canadian cannot bring themselves to do. It is about control of their citizens, so they will be able to take from them anything they own. What’ theirs is theirs and whats yours is theirs. You strive to own a home and finally the mortgage is paid off and you discover that the property taxes are so high, it is as if the government owns the home you just paid off and you are paying them rent to live in it and if you cannot pay, they’ll take it away from you.
We are suddenly the United Socialist States of America or the USSA. I am suddenly glad I am old and cannot last much longer …….
Take a look at the rematprks of various USG officials with their various tax programs. This and that program “will return funds to the Treasury”. They truly do believe that whatever we earn originated in the treasury and the paying of taxes is returning money to it.
“Several in Congress have made attempts to tax airline mileage points as income.”
Canada did that a long time ago, if the employer pays for the flights that accrue mileage points and the person uses the mileage points for personal flights.
When an employer sent me on business trips using some negotiated fare, I paid for upgrades out of my pocket to fly in a class that accrued mileage points. Since my payments paid for the points, my personal usage of the points wasn’t income.
That may be the case in the US now, I don’t know, but what I have read about is the individual having to pay for the mileage points the received from personal travel.
NOTHING SCARES THE IRS LIKE
QUESTIONS ABOUT SECTION 861
http://www.rense.com/general69/lfc.htm
quote :
“My research shows that at least 300 persons have requested clarification from the IRS on this subject in general and section 861 in particular. To date, the IRS has refused to address these questions and they have resorted to bullying, blustering and threatening. But ALWAYS they have refused to address specific questions about section 861. Also, to my knowledge, not ONE person has been prosecuted for relying on the written law as expressed in section 861 of the tax code, and has paid the least amount or taxes owed ZERO!”
Can’t wait to see the movie named “Snowden” coming out in september
72 hours prior? What the hell takes 72 hours to process?
So much for any last-minute flights (and subsequent airfare deals) to Canada.
Wait, WHAT?
NEI. NEI. NEI. NEI. NEI.
Canadians have the absolute, unassailable right to return to their country and these changes jeopardize it. I don’t know much about Border Services but that is one of the fundamental principles I know.
Canada, I hardly recognize you anymore.
PS: someone upthread was talking about biometrics for unlocking cell phones. Skeeves me right out too.
We now need permission to travel and must ask for it 72 hours before traveling for our request to be accepted.
Wow.
Apart from the few here, the response will be mostly “ho-hum” if that.
Well the “good news” is, no more temptation to take the risk to see a dying family member. They will have expired before we can even get approval.
And the populations of both countries will accept this too.
It is scary how easy it is to enslave entire nations.
Biometrics and banking — https://www.thestar.com/business/2015/10/04/forget-your-password-rbc-can-identify-clients-based-on-their-voice.html
And if you have a cold, I guess you’re outta luck.
@Japan T
“Apart from the few here, the response will be mostly “ho-hum” if that.”
We all have to pick and choose our battles.
A lot of people would be outraged by the fact that Japan forces its foreigners to carry identification cards at all times. Moreover, unless regulations have changed, foreigners staying for more than 90 days also have to provide the Japanese government with fingerprints. Last but not least, you choose to live in a country where foreigners have no legal rights whatsoever.
(I’m not judging you, by the way. I agreed to give up every one of of my civil rights, sacrificing privacy and legal protection, while I lived in Japan. As a result of the choices I made in my 20s, Japan has some of my biometric data, which means the rest of the G20 countries do too. As well as anyone who’s hacked into any of those systems.)
Getting agitated changes NOTHING. I’m sorry, but that’s just the truth. We live in a world without privacy. If I refused to provide the requested information, I wouldn’t be able to travel and I don’t want to spend the rest of my life not being able to leave the country.
“And the populations of both countries will accept this too.”
This is not limited to just Canada and the US, nor is this anything new. Data has been collected and exchanged between G20 countries for years. They’re just getting more open about it, and now brazenly demanding it straight from the source. Don’t think for a moment that they won’t double-check and cross-reference the information passengers provide against their existing databases.
Incidentally, I keep referring to G20 countries but I suspect all countries with the budget and technology gather and exchange personal data on their citizens and visitors, and have done for decades. The only key difference in recent years is that technology makes the whole process easier, cheaper and faster.
The USG has the power and technology to track every one of us down with the technology they already have on hand — they simply haven’t bothered so far. My guess it’s because their staff is too overwhelmed to deal with more data, but the USG is no doubt working on automating more of the process so that won’t be any issue going forward.
I know all that, but now we must wait 72 hours before we can cross certain borders. We, in effect, need permission to travel.
As far as Japsn, it’s funny as I just said the same thing to a friend earlier today. I never planned to stay anywhere near this long in Japan, it was a temporary thing from the beginning. I hated the things you mentioned but “knew” I would not be here all that long and if it got to where I couldn’t stand any more I would just go back. That was before I married a local. By that time I had already been living under this system for several years and the sting had worn off.
BTW, they no longer have our finger prints on our gaijin cards. I have no doubt that mine is still on file, however.
Oh, and not a swipe at you, which battles are the populations of the US and Canada fighting?
@Japan T
“Oh, and not a swipe at you, which battles are the populations of the US and Canada fighting?”
I was referring to the battles we pick and choose as individuals. I’ve long since come to terms with the fact that privacy is nothing but an abstract concept in this day and age. Personally, I’m far more concerned about abrupt climate change than I am about CBT or cross-border data sharing.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/climate-change-fires-1.3576682
http://guymcpherson.com/climate-chaos/climate-change-summary-and-update/
There people who have gone through data bases, old news papers, and research papers and have put together quite a lot of stuff showing how various organization from NASA, NOA and many others have rewritten and altered historical climate data and fudged and completely fabricated more recent data to make it seem something it is not. Even the temperatures can’t be trusted. Official thermometers set up in the middle of parking lots do not provide accurate readings. Nor do ones atop buildings near the exhaust of the a/c units. Many of the world wide hot spots shown on the maps one can easily find in the news are many hundreds of miles away from the nearest weather station.
In the 70s it was the coming ice age. When the ice age failed to meet its appointment, the Green House Effect was going to end weather. When that didn’t happen CFC’s caused the hole in the Ozone and the world was going to burn up. When that didn’t happen, it was Global Warming. Now that the Earth has not warmed in at least 18 years and it is either global climate change, extreme weather and now sudden weather change.
Ask yourself, how many ice ages have there been? Scientists are not in agreement, some say as few as four, at the other end others give a much higher number. What they do agree on is that there have been more than one. This means that the Earth is perfectly capable of getting itself mostly covered in ice and mostly free of it on its own without man. The only difference now is that we are here. We are quite arrogant to take the credit for something that has been going on long before we arrived.