An Air Canada Flagging

My wife and I flew to Vancouver from Toronto on a Jetsgo charter flight in May. We wanted to take a connecting Air Canada flight to Victoria that same night and upon arrival walked over to the Air Canada counter. After being assured of the availability of both seats and time to board flight AC 8087 we gave the desk staff a credit card, a valid picture ID, and proceeded to wait for our boarding passes.

Soon after our credit card payment was processed I was told that I was flagged and would not be allowed to board the Air Canada flight. My wife who is not of Pakistani origin was told that she could, should she choose, board the plane. I however could not. After much arguing the Air Canada staff told us that they could do nothing about the matter as this was being ordered of them by their head-office in Montreal. With all options denied we requested if we could book a ticket for the following day. We were told that this was not possible. With my flagging it was highly unlikely I would be allowed to board. The booking agent did add that it might be possible if I were to show my Canadian passport (but again there was no guarantee). I was also told that in the future I should always carry my Canadian passport on all domestic flights. I am a born Canadian citizen and do not need a passport to travel within Canada. I have never carried a passport when traveling within Canada just a valid, picture identification as per Canadian regulations. We ended up renting a car and driving to Victoria.

There are a number of issues here that Air Canada needs to address. The most basic being that Air Canada has infringed on my right to mobility. Why was I not allowed to fly? In Air Canada’s official response to our complaint they not only denied the entire flagging incident but also lied as to what ensued between the Air Canada booking personnel and us. By avoiding the problem Air Canada is treading in dangerous territory. As citizens in a democratic country we were not given reasons for not being allowed to fly. We were not provided any means of recourse. I was judged and sentenced without being accused. As a Canadian citizen I am owed some basic answers. Air Canada does have a system to file complaints through their Customer Solutions and Customer Appeals. Both bodies only provide an email and fax number to file your complaint. You do not speak to anyone. There is no telephone number and when they deign to respond there is no route for rebuttal. The system may be appropriate for people claiming damaged suitcases but is absolutely unacceptable in these particular instances. Even Transport Canada, which supposedly establishes Canadian safety standards, neatly sidesteps and avoids any mention of what an individual can do when wrongfully flagged.

It is important that the airline industry provides a means for appeal for any flagged Canadian. It is common knowledge that the Canadian airport security system remains deeply flawed. Criteria used to select passengers for intense screening or flagging are extremely broad. In many instances fifteen percent of boarding passengers may be flagged. Most of the time passenger information may not even corroborate real world intelligence, which should ideally distinguish potential terrorists from legitimate travelers. So, for example, on an Air Canada Airbus A320 that has a capacity of 150 passengers twenty-two people would be flagged. Twenty-two potential terrorists on any one airplane are a logic-defying statistic. Couple this with the practice of routinely adding people into information databases who are not suspected of any wrongdoing but inadvertently come into contact with primary suspects begs the question how any traveler can actually remain unflagged.

Accepting the premise that I am not a terrorist what then is my crime? Is it that I am an editorial cartoonist with the New York Times Press Syndicate which is a bit too vocal in my criticism of American foreign policy? Or, is it that I have angered, as some conspiracy theorist friends have suggested, the Canadian Jewish Congress with my cartoons. Or, perhaps it is because I grew up in Pakistan, or is it because of the calls I placed to Robert Fisk in Lebanon last year? Might it possibly be my skin color, my faith, or because of the perpetual 4pm shadow-stubble on my face? A scarier scenario would be that my name, common as it is, has been confused with some other Shahid Mahmood. What does this mean for me? It would mean, I think, that if there was another senseless act of extremism in North America my name and self would most likely end up on a military ledger in Guantanamo Bay. I should not be mistaken for another’s suspicions. It is incumbent upon Air Canada to tell me why, and if so by whom. Is it Air Canada? Or is it some branch of the Canadian or American Federal Government? I have the right to travel freely as any law-abiding Canadian citizen should be allowed. I am now having to jump hoops to find out why I was flagged and if so, by whom. I took my story to the media to build a public awareness, then to lawyers, politicians, and to advocacy groups in both Canada and the United States. I have no answers as of yet.

In an equitable society there is always a forthright way to contest an accusation. In the most banal comparison when someone is issued a traffic ticket they themselves can set a court date to challenge the infraction. A procedure for appealing is what is needed here. It can be a booth at the airport, a lineup at CATSA (Canadian Air Transport Security Authority) or an appointment with a RCMP officer. It is then that the government can attempt to strike an appropriate balance between respecting the values of equality while also ensuring the safety of the global community. Until this happens the caveat is that many civilians will be condemned to function under a sub-set of laws and regulations relegating them to being second class citizens - denied the most basic of rights.