statism watch

Chris Sorensen, Toronto Star
July 10, 2008

Canadians flying home from the United States could find themselves standing in longer lineups at airport check-in counters if a U.S. proposal to fingerprint some exiting foreigners is adopted, the country’s largest airline warns.

In a recent U.S. filing, Air Canada said the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to expand a fingerprinting program to include passengers leaving the country by 2009 would be a “big step backward” for airlines, bogging down a check-in process that’s becoming increasingly automated.

While the fingerprint requirement won’t apply to most Canadians — with the exception of permanent residents or Canadians with dual nationalities who present a non-Canadian passport — the move threatens to slow down the check-in process for everyone since the job of determining which passengers are eligible could ultimately fall to ticket agents.

“(The proposal) would send air travellers back to check-in counters,” Air Canada warned in its filing, noting that many of its cross-border flights are commuter services targeting time-sensitive travellers.

“It also would impair the value of the airlines’ technology investments at a time when these companies are struggling mightily with unbearable, record-high fuel and other costs.”

Like other airlines, Air Canada has invested heavily in electronic ticketing and self-serve kiosks to speed the check-in process as flying becomes increasingly bogged down by post-9/11 security measures.

Air Canada, which operates more than 200 flights to 50 U.S. airports each day, estimates the cost to transmit the necessary fingerprint data under the proposed program would top $1 million a year, excluding the cost of storing the biometric images, the airline said.

The threat of extra costs comes as Air Canada is scaling capacity down and slashing 2,000 jobs in a bid to offset a fuel bill that’s set to grow by $1 billion this year.

The plan to track foreign visitors who are leaving the United States is part of a larger U.S. program called US-VISIT, which was launched after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

So far, the focus of U.S. authorities has been on identifying incoming visitors, but now officials want to set up a system to record exits as well.

Airlines argue that recording and storing passengers’ fingerprints is the government’s job.

The U.S. Air Transport Association said its members are “extremely disappointed” that U.S. officials have decided to “offload” their duties onto the industry.

A better approach, the group argues, is a partnership between government and the airlines.

That was the template for the system used to identify incoming passengers, with the air carriers collecting basic personal information — name, birthday, passport number — and forwarding it along to officials, who then perform screening and fingerprinting.

Air Canada said it is also concerned that collecting and storing passenger fingerprints could be inconsistent with Canadian privacy laws. And it questioned whether the program would meaningfully enhance security since it is not being applied to land crossings.

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CBC News
July 10, 2008

A 78-year-old fisherman in Guysborough County could be evicted Thursday after refusing to sell his home to make way for a proposed container terminal on the Strait of Canso.

Basil Scott has lived his entire life in the modest house on the Melford Loop road.

Unlike 10 other landowners, he refused to sell his home and turned down an offer of $30,000. A relative who lives nearby won’t go either.

Joey Scott said if the Municipality of the District of Guysborough evicts his uncle, it will have to find somewhere for him to go.

“I told them they were basically responsible now,” said Joey Scott. “They got to find him a place to live. If it’s a jail cell, it’s a jail cell.”

A court order says sheriffs can evict Scott on Thursday as the result of an expropriation carried out last November.

Proponents of the $300-million Melford International Terminal, which calls for a rail facility and logistics park, hope it starts operating in three years.

Lloyd Hines, warden of the municipality, said the economically depressed area had to expropriate the land in order to attract business, even with a project that’s still awaiting regulatory approval.

“Even if the container terminal doesn’t get built, something else will,” said Hines. “Deep ice-free ports on the East Coast aren’t that plentiful. We’re confident the infrastructure that has been created will be attractive for some other development.”

Joey Scott is all for the 300 jobs that could come with a new container terminal. However, he said the company should ensure that his uncle and other family members who share ownership of the property get more money.

“The thing I don’t understand is if you have a $350-million project, how do you take a 78-year-old man and move him out and basically give him nothing?” he said.

The municipality won’t say if it intends to send a sheriff to remove Basil Scott from his home on Thursday.

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Caroline Hepker, BBC News
July 10, 2008

For decades, Wall Street has banged the drum for de-regulation.

In capitalist America, the idea that financial markets are best left alone has been dearly held. And it has helped make America rich.

But the bomb-shell of the near collapse of investment bank Bear Stearns and the credit crunch has exploded some of that confidence in self-policing markets.

Now, the financial system here in the United States could get its biggest shake-up since the Great Depression of 1933.

Size matters

On Thursday, America’s two most powerful economic figures – the Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and the US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson -addressed a Congressional panel on “Systematic Risk and Financial Markets”.

They argued the case for a new type of regulation that would look at the bigger picture.

Rather than the type of institution, the key factor would be its importance within the financial system.

Mr Paulson told the panel that the Bear Stearns rescue and the market turmoil it unleashed showed the “outdated nature” of the financial regulatory system.

“This has convinced me that we must move much more quickly to update our regulatory structure and improve both market oversight and market discipline,” he said.

Mr Bernanke told Congress he supported that push for change.

“The financial turmoil is ongoing, and our efforts today are concentrated on helping the financial system return to more normal functioning.

It is not too soon, however, to think about steps that might be taken to reduce the incidence and severity of future crises.”

He went on to suggest Congress may need to enact new laws to increase the Federal Reserve’s powers.

Tectonic shift

This would take America’s central bank into a new sphere.

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BBC News
Thursday, July 10 2008

US President George W Bush has approved a bill to shield telephone companies who helped in the White House’s controversial wiretaps programme.

The bill also grants the US government the power to continue with the telephone surveillance scheme.

The White House faced criticism when it emerged it was monitoring – without warrants – communications in the US involving one participant abroad.

The bill had previously been passed by both houses of Congress.

‘Respecting liberties’

Signing the bill into law, President Bush said it “will play a critical role in helping to prevent another attack on our soil”.

“The bill will allow our intelligence professionals to quickly and effectively monitor the communications of terrorists abroad while respecting the liberties of Americans here at home,” he added.

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama voted in favour of the measure when it came before the Senate on Wednesday.

His decision to back the bill drew criticism from some of his supporters, who pointed to past statements in which Mr Obama had pledged to block any bill which granted immunity to telecommunication companies. 

Full Story | See Also: Sweden approves wiretapping law | Opposition to proposed Swedish surveillance law mounts | Sweden sets sights on new ‘catch and release’ wiretap law | Secretive Canadian spy agency to get $62-million HQ | Whistle-Blower: Feds Have a Backdoor Into Wireless Carrier – Congress Reacts | Listening in on the enemy: Canada’s master eavesdroppers