HAZMAT on aircraft- Baltimore, MD

Anne Arundel County Fire Dispatch via MFN ^ | 8/15/02 | Maryland Fire Network

[Pippin]

I'm part Canadian and of GERMAN descent.

Not ALL Canadinas are bad!

[Pippin]

I am getting tired of people dissing Canada!

My mother is a Canadaioa

Don't get mt wrong, I was born and raised in the United States and am a proud American but I will NOT dis my Canadian relations!

[Pippin]

RE: #22

Canadaioa SB Canadian.

[Nexus]

MarshMan, anything else?

[Stevieboy]

No, in fact very few Canadians are bad BUT the liberal nannies are gradually turning the majority into a bunch of PC, non-responibility-taking, freedom-oblivious weenies... right?

[JustAnAmerican]

"Not ALL Canadinas are bad!

Never assumed they were, just find it rather odd that most Terror related incidents of late, (especially involving planes), have had Toronto, Canada as a starting point. So, my question is, why is that? Bad security? Too much PC garbage?

[chs68]

I am probably completely uninformed here, but I was unaware that Toronto was the source of any efforts to attack the USA.

I have to say that I love Toronto, and Canadians in general. I am always impressed by their friendliness and their genuine fondness for us Yanks.

To respond to your question about security at Toronto's airport, I can only speak to their International Airport.

Security there is every bit as good (or bad, depending upon your viewpoint) as that at DCA or IAD. It is no where near as good as it is at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv or at Gatwick or Heathrow in London.

Passengers flying from Toronto to the USA clear American customs before they board their flights to the USA.

It would seem to me that if there is any lapse in security on flights coming into the USA from Toronto, our American customs agents would bear some responsibility.

[Pippin]

Probably, I really don't know.

Sorry about my rant.

I guess i'm oversensative about the subject of Canada because of being part Canadian.

[Pippin]

Not the ones out in the Western Provinces!

[Erasmus]

Canadaioa SB Canadian.

I think you have coined a useful word there. Could be taken to mean "The sense a Canadian has of being unfairly persecuted."

[Pippin]

never thoputh of that. But why are the Canadians bein unfairly persicuted? As I can recall, none of those hijackers on Sept. 11 were Canadian citizens bor did they come to the US thruogh the US/Canada border.

[jae471]

Quebec is French. The rest is English-speaking. That's like saying half of the U.S. is French because of the size of the Louisiana Purchase.

Excluding Quebec, Canada's ancestry is very close to that of the U.S. (Anglo-Scot-Irish-German)

[E Rocc]

That's what happens when you let fArt or David modell on an airplane. :phew:

-Eric

[JustAnAmerican]

Anyone want to take a guess as to how long it will be before this is covered up in one way or another? With the Airline industry already heading towards collapse, my guess is we will probably never hear another word about this, and if we do, it will be deemed nothing. Guess I must be getting pretty Cynical in my old age, because in my eyes American lives are worth a h*ll of a lot more then any sum or money.

[rintense]

Kinda makes my spotting of middle eastern men taking photos of Tornoto skyscrapers a little more interesting, huh?

[JustAnAmerican]

"Sorry about my rant."

Np:), However I managed to answer my own questions by doing a search for Toronto here. Seems Toronto is/was a major Al-Qaida hotbed, and also has a lot of anti-Jewish sentiment (skin Heads/Neo nazis/Radical islamists). Does kind of sound like what is happening in France though.

One futher note, if any of my Ancessors were involved in anti-American activities I would be right at the top of Americans calling for their blood. I am an American, nothing more nothing less.

[MarshMan]

All fire/rescue units have cleared the scene. A thorough search did not reveal anything of a suspicious nature. Sometimes when one person becomes sick (for whatever reason), others follow in a psycho-somatic reaction when they are not really ill. The initial decon was done as a precaution as it is better to do more initially and not need it than to do less and then try to play catch up.

Perhaps it was a batch of bad back-bacon!

[freeasinbeer]

Toronto has been a starting point for terror? Care to back this up, or is this simply more Canuck bashing?

Also, you may want to get better informed about a places background when making broad comments. Saying MOST of Canada is of French descent is plain incorrect, especially when talking about Toronto and 95% of Ontario.

Security wise I can only go by my own experience. Flying out of San Francisco, Dallas and Phoenix recently, my laptop, digital camera, etc wasn't even checked, yet every time I have flown out of Toronto, every single electronic device in my carry-on has been checked. Also, every single person flying from Toronto in the U.S must go through U.S. customs, which in theory should improve security.

[Pippin]

But it sounded like you were condemming the whole country.

I know about Toronto!

[mitchbert]

First, most of us Canucks are NOT of French descent, but whatever.

As for security, I flew through Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal and Vancouver over the past 3 months and honestly, I was pleasantly impressed with the way airport security is being handled. It appears they've put extra people in the screening areas and supervision is much better than it was pre-9/11. I didn't take any longer to go through security than before but the checks were much more intense. All carry on baggage was opened, and I mean everyone's. All electronic gear had to be turned on, not just inspected. Generally very courteous screeners, too. What I didn't see any evidence of was some of the wierdness many folks here have described happening in some U.S. airports...confiscating toys, being really anal with elderly people who are about as far from the profile of a terrorist you could imagine, humiliating passengers, that sort of thing. Just very thorough and generally polite inspections with extra room to turn on laptops, check bags etc.

I was expecting much worse, and as I hadn't flown since 9/11 I was relying on horror stories as perception. Frankly, I've never felt more confident than I did with the inspection routines I saw, and it was consistant at all the 4 airports.

If there was any idiotic behavior going on I didn't see it.