UPDATE: Feb 1 - When Xtra posts original documents to the web, we typically use a free online service calld Scribd. This involves uploading the file to Scribd's server and then embedding the document in our web page. On Tuesday, Xtra did just this with email correspondence between reporter Andrea Houston and representatives of Transport Canada. At some time today, however, Scribd removed the document from its servers due to a copyright claim "at the request of Transport Canada."
We have now copied and pasted the text of our email correspondence below:
Mrs. Houston,
Transport Canada Minister’s office has asked us to provide you with info relating to your inquiry on flight screening:
The security of passengers and their baggage is a priority for the Government of Canada. The regulations are the same as before, since they are those of the International Civil Aviation Organization that are in place in all countries. To comply with the Identity Screening Regulations, airlines in Canada must have procedures allowing them to identify all passengers by using their official identification issued by a recognized government authority. This approach applies to all passengers, regardless of their culture, religion or sexual orientation.
Before the amendment, the Identity Screening Regulations did not explicitly require air carriers to compare and check passengers’ physical appearance against their identification. Transport Canada more clearly defined the requirements in the Canada Gazette in 2010 and 2011, after receiving Governor-in-Council approval. No changes have been made to the order since it was first published in August 2010.
Transport Canada is not aware of any case of a transgendered or transsexual individual in possession of a medical document who has not been permitted to board an airplane since the publication of the Regulations in 2010. If you read the complete Regulations, you will see that paragraph 5.2(2)(a) does not prevent the transgendered and transsexual community from travelling by air. If, for medical reasons, a passenger’s facial features do not correspond to the photo on his or her identification, the air carrier may authorize the passenger to board a plane if he or she provides a medical certificate relating to this.
I hope that helps.
Regards,
Maryse Durette | Conseillère principale\Senior Advisor
Relations avec les médias\Media Relations 613-993-0055
Transport Canada / Place de Ville (Tour C), Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N5
Transports Canada / Place de Ville (Tower C) Ottawa (Ontario) K1A 0N5
Government of Canada Gouvernement du Canada
tel 613-998-8344 e-mail maryse.durette@tc.gc.ca
Good afternoon,
Please find below the answers to your questions:
Our Government has ensured that the identification requirements to board an airplane in Canada are not discriminatory; they apply to all passengers, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, and they do not impose barriers to any particular group.
Any passenger whose physical appearance does not correspond to their identification can continue to board an airplane by supplying a letter from a heath care professional explaining the discrepancy.
We have no records of any individual being denied boarding in Canada because they are transgender or transsexual.
The security of our aviation system and air passengers remains a top priority for our Government.
Canadians expect their Government to ensure that individuals who pose a threat to aviation security are barred from flights to, from and within Canada. In order to achieve this, it is essential to verify a passenger’s identity.
Our air security programs achieve this goal without discrimination and in a way that respects Canadian values.
Identity Screening Regulations:
5.2 (1) An air carrier shall not transport a passenger if
· (a) the passenger presents a piece of photo identification and does not resemble the photograph;
· (b) the passenger does not appear to be the age indicated by the date of birth on the identification he or she presents;
· (c) the passenger does not appear to be of the gender indicated on the identification he or she presents; or
· (d) the passenger presents more than one form of identification and there is a major discrepancy between those forms of identification.
(2) Despite paragraph (1)(a), an air carrier may transport a passenger who presents a piece of photo identification but does not resemble the photograph if
· (a) the passenger’s appearance changed for medical reasons after the photograph was taken and the passenger presents the air carrier with a document signed by a health care professional and attesting to that fact; or
· (b) the passengers’s face is bandaged for medical reasons and the passenger presents the air carrier with a document signed by a health care professional and attesting to that fact.
Have a nice day!
Pierre
Pierre Floréa
Attaché de presse, Press Secretary
Cabinet de l'honorable Denis Lebel, ministre des Transports, de l’Infrastructure et des Collectivités et ministre de l’Agence de développement économique du Canada pour les régions du Québec,
Office of the Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec.
613-991-0700