Canada introduces no-fly list amid fear of abuses

OTTAWA, Canada (Reuters) -- Canada introduced a no-fly list Monday to ground potential air passengers "who may pose an immediate threat to aviation security" and tried to play down concerns that the list could be abused.

Airlines will be obliged to check the names of passengers who appear to be 12 or over against the list, which was compiled using information from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as well as Canada's counter-intelligence agency.

"Canadians need protection against terrorism. That's the basic point ... we're looking at the terrorist challenge and we're looking at ways of addressing it," said Allan Kagedan, chief of aviation security policy at Transport Canada.

Those named on the list would have an immediate chance to provide more identification and information in a bid to make it onboard a flight. If that fails, they can file an appeal with Transport Canada.

Kagedan told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the document was "a very, very narrow and specific list," but didn't say how many people were on it.

Critics fear the list may be abused and point to the case of Maher Arar, a Canadian software engineer whom U.S. border agents deported to Syria in 2002 after the Mounties mistakenly identified him as an Islamic extremist.

Lindsay Scotton from the office of Canada's privacy commissioner described the list as "a very serious incursion" into people's rights.

"It can be life-threatening, it can have very serious and profound ramifications if somebody is on a list that is used for purposes that interfere with their civil liberties," she told CBC.

Scotton and others worry that foreign airlines might provide the list to their own governments, thereby potentially putting innocent people at risk if they traveled to certain foreign nations.

Kagedan said any airline which passes on data from the list would be subject to "the most severe penalties," including large fines or the removal of their operating license.

The list includes people who are or have been "involved in a terrorist group," or who have been convicted of "one or more serious and life-threatening crimes against aviation security."

Others barred from flying include people who have been "convicted of one or more serious and life-threatening offenses and who may attack or harm an air carrier, passengers or crew members."

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