Article content

Analysis

The next time you see Canadian airport security confiscating a half-full bottle of Diet Coke from a confused Saskatchewan grandmother, just remember that you’re not alone in suspecting that this is an utterly flawed system to keep aircraft safe.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Why Canadian airport security is exactly as useless and arbitrary as you think Back to video

In fact, a cadre of security experts would agree with you.

“No system can perform efficiently when one is looking for a needle in a haystack by checking each straw individually,” Israeli security consultant Rafi Sela wrote in a 2010 op-ed for The New York Times.

British security expert Philip Baum, meanwhile, said in a 2016 interview: “Who cares whether a passenger has a pair of scissors or a box cutter if there is no intent to use them as a weapon?”

Photo by Stacy Bailey/Postmedia Network

Instead, these critics say, the answer is “profiling.” Rather than focusing on finding bad things — focus on finding bad people.

Canada’s current airport security system is to assume that absolutely every airline passenger poses a potential terrorist threat. Thus, the only option is to strip them of anything remotely sharp or bomb-like.

According to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, the latest list of banned carry-on items include belts made with fake bullets, aerosol laundry starch, lacrosse sticks and absolutely any liquid container rated for more than 100 ml — even if it’s almost empty.