Prime Minister Stephen Harper chats with a security officer in a shipping facility prior to making an announcement on transit security at Pearson Airport in Toronto on Friday, June 16, 2006. (AP PHOTO/CP/Frank Gunn)
Posted on 06/16/2006 5:51:15 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
TORONTO - Canada unveiled on Friday anti-terrorism measures aimed at bolstering security at the country's airports, railway systems and marine ports in the next few months.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the government also would spend more than $224 million to beef up the country's ability to detect potential terrorist attacks as part of the $1.3 billion approved in the federal budget for security.
"This is how the fight against terrorism will be won ... plugging the holes, filling the gaps," Harper told a news conference at a Toronto airport cargo bay. "
Some in Washington have criticized Canada's immigration laws as too lax and have long called on their neighbor to tighten regulations at airports, border crossings and ports. That criticism has been heightened in the past few weeks with the arrest of 17 suspects in the Toronto area who are charged with plotting bomb attacks against targets in southern Ontario.
The new anti-terrorism measures include more thorough screening of passenger luggage and more resources for scanning passports. Security at marine ports also will be increased, including more thorough background checks for port workers, Harper said.
He said his government would review the country's anti-terrorism legislation and look at options to improve security along the 4,000-mile border with the United States.
The government is also considering the possibility of requiring air marshals on selected flights, much like the United States did in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Harper conceded it was no accident that Friday's news conference took place in Toronto, which has been uneasy since the terrorism arrests on June 2. But he said the measures were more in response to those being adopted by transportation systems in other countries, specifically the United Kingdom and Spain, which have both been recent terrorist targets.
"We're giving (the measures) more attention, and they're obviously more newsworthy for the average person because of the recent arrests," he said.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced earlier this month that authorities had foiled a terrorist plot against targets in Ontario, saying the suspects had obtained three tons of ammonium nitrate, three times what was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.
The 12 men and five teenagers arrested are all from the Greater Toronto Area and some police sources have told Canadian media that their targets included the Toronto Stock Exchange and downtown headquarters of the country's spy agency.
Two youths charged in the terror case were in court Friday in Brampton, just west of Toronto, for bail hearings. The lawyer for one, a 15-year-old Canadian, said he is just a scared kid from a good family.
Lawyer Michael Block said his client was raised by a hardworking, liberal family and he suggested that any evidence he has seen indicated his client had a minimal role.
"Some people may prove to have different involvement," Block said outside the courtroom.
"He's a very frightened 15-year-old boy who has a very good idea of the downside risk he's facing," Block added. "He is just hoping that at some point life will be normal — back eating Mom's food with the rest of his family."
Details of the hearings cannot be released under a blanket publication ban imposed by the court that prevents the public from learning of any further evidence in the stunning case. The names of the five teenagers also cannot be released due to federal privacy laws.
A decision on whether bail will be granted is not expected until Monday at the earliest.
Anser Farooq, the lawyer for the other youth, said he believes his client could be granted bail.
"I think we've got a good chance," he said outside the courthouse.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper chats with a security officer in a shipping facility prior to making an announcement on transit security at Pearson Airport in Toronto on Friday, June 16, 2006. (AP PHOTO/CP/Frank Gunn)
Giving this frightened 15 year old 20 years at hard labor would be good idea of the downside of playing with fire!
Can't Mom bring him food in prison?
Canada...do what you've got to do.
Any sign of weakness is a green light to these Islmic nutters.
Canadian anti-terrorism measures??? This must mean that they are installing a high speed moving sidewalk into the U.S.A. They are, after all, part French!
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