International Forum for Security Screening in Aviation
“Security Choices: Balancing Security and Harmonization”
February 21 2006
Tel Aviv, Israël
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It’s a real pleasure to welcome all of you once again to the 2006 International Forum for Security Screening in Aviation.
It is a real honour for me, as the President of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) to be co-chairing this event with the Israeli Security Agency.
I am also very pleased to inform you that we have a very special delegation joining us from Canada this year; including a member of CATSA’s Board of Directors, Ms. Lecia Stewart. Ms. Stewart has over 20 years of public and private sector experience in transportation and is the former North American Vice-President for Bombardier Transportation.
I am also very pleased to inform you that another member of the Canadian delegation is Mr. Reg Whitaker. Mr. Whitaker is a distinguished research professor emeritus at York University, where he taught political science from 1984 to 2001, and an adjunct professor of political science at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.
Professor Whitaker is one of Canada’s leading authorities in the study of political parties, federalism, security and intelligence, immigration policy and the history of political thought. He has written and co-authored many academic articles and several books, including Canada and the Cold War (2003) with Steve Hewitt, and The End of Privacy: How Total Surveillance is becoming a Reality (1999).
Recently, Professor Whitaker was appointed by Canada’s Minister of Transport to sit as the Chair of the mandated Ministerial Advisory Panel that is conducting an independent study and analysis of CATSA operations.
And so, I am very pleased to welcome all of you and our invited guests to this year’s Forum.
The International Forum for Security Screening in Aviation (IFSSA) was created by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) to foster an exchange of knowledge and experience between leading aviation security screening organizations from around the world.
The idea for this forum was born from my days as Chief of Police in Montreal, QC, where I was a member of an International Organization for Chiefs of Police of Major Cities. In the law enforcement world, information sharing, international coordination and collaboration in the fight against terrorism is critical.
And so, when I became President and CEO of CATSA, I felt it was necessary to establish an international forum where heads of aviation security screening organizations could meet once a year to exchange information and best practices in air security.
The purpose of this forum is to give us the opportunity to be open and honest about the problems and challenges that we are confronting. In our business, we cannot afford to make mistakes. If one of us fails, the whole system can fail, and this is what we saw on 9/11 when flights around the world were suddenly grounded.
I am sure that our discussions over the next few days will be of tremendous value and will help us to improve our own organizations. By bringing together experts from various countries, we share our knowledge, discuss common challenges and look for common solutions.
As many of you know, this year marks the third anniversary of the forum.
This first meeting was held In February 2004, under the theme “Beyond our Borders- A Forward Looking Discussion”. This event marked the first international gathering of air security screening executives, with representatives from nine countries.
“Working Together-Finding Best Practices”, was the theme of last year’s conference which was hosted by the South African Civil Aviation Authority and was held in Pilanesberg, South Africa with delegates from eleven countries.
This year’s theme that will help guide our discussions is “Security Choices: Balancing Security and Harmonization”.
Our common goal is to ensure the security of air travelers. Whether it is London, Bali, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Iraq or Afghanistan, events around the world have taught us that terrorism is not disappearing.
And yet, as we fade away from 9/11, passengers are becoming more and more frustrated with security measures, particularly when they travel between countries. They are frustrated with the long line-ups at screening checkpoints and the differences between prohibited item lists. They are frustrated because they do not know what to expect from one place to another.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) are making tremendous efforts to harmonize the global system and I acknowledge their hard work in these areas.
In 2004, the aviation industry counted 1.9 billion air passengers1 and this number will only increase. With this increased passenger growth, our security systems are faced with a challenge; to accommodate more people passing through our airports, while also adapting to deal with new and emerging threats; whether it’s liquid explosives, TATP or improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
In short, we need to develop a more integrated security system that is user-friendly, without compromising the security of the traveling public.
We know that aviation security screening cannot remain static; we know that we must evolve.
I am very pleased that this year’s conference is being held in Israel, because I know there are many important lessons that we can learn from their experiences.
Suicide attacks are regular occurrences in this country and this is a reality that many of us have yet to face.
A news report recently highlighted that there have been over 800 suicide attacks in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein2.
Terrorism experts have all agreed: Iraq has become a training ground for terrorists. The methods and tools they are learning and using in Iraq will not be forgotten when they return to their respective countries.
And so we must challenge ourselves to fill in the missing links, what can we do better? How can we improve the security at our airports, how can we improve our organization and our people?
The system we put in place in response to the events of 9/11 needs to adapt to the new realities of terrorism.
Our security systems must be strategic, flexible and agile. They need to be performance-driven and risk/threat based. We need to make sure we have the right tools to do our job and that includes access to timely intelligence. Our security systems must look for objects, but also at people and their behaviours. We need to ensure that our security technology is integrated with human judgement.
Our systems must be highly responsive to evolving security threats, while mindful of the needs of the industry and the traveling public. We need to find the right balance between safety, security and efficiency.
As terrorists operate flexibly and internationally, so must we. We need to continue our efforts to work cooperatively with each other by enhancing international partnerships.
I hope that in our discussions over the next couple of days, we will have the opportunity to address these issues and to discuss the balance between security procedures and the need for increased harmonization.
We are all facing the same challenges and this forum will allow us to share best practices, shape new directions and to stay ahead of the curve. It will be an opportunity for all of us to learn more, plan better and respond more effectively.
I look forward to our discussions over the next couple of days and I thank you for your participation in this conference.
Thank you.
