A new report by Auditor-General Sheila Fraser says that despite a $7.7-billion funding boost for anti-terrorism initiatives after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Canada still has major weaknesses in security that must be addressed immediately.
Ms. Fraser's report is sure to damage Canada's reputation with the United States, which has maintained since the attacks that Canada's borders are porous.
She also found that while the $7.7-billion allocated for improved security after the attacks went to the right priority areas, such as airports, there was a lack of co-ordination between government departments and security agencies in terms of the funding.
"The government as a whole failed to achieve improvements in the ability of security information systems to communicate with each other. Consequently, needed improvements will be delayed by several years," Ms. Fraser wrote in Tuesday's report.
Auditor-General Sheila Fraser addresses a news conference Tuesday in Ottawa. (Jonathan Hayward/CP)
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In particular, she made a number of damning observations about Canadian airport security. Among her findings:
The Auditor-General also found that government departments and agencies do not have compatible systems with which to share information.
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In several instances in the report, Ms. Fraser chastized the government for not having proper co-operation between departments.
"Unless air transportation workers with access to aircraft are reliable, spending on passenger and cargo security will be of reduced value," Ms. Fraser said.
In general, Ms. Fraser said while the government departments have agreed to comply with the recommendations in this report, "we were disappointed that some of the flaws we identified -- the incomplete watch lists and the questionable reliability of some airport personnel, for example — were in fundamental elements of routine security systems that were in place prior to September 2001. They should have been functioning more effectively at the time of our audit," said Ms. Fraser. "These matters are serious and need to be addressed," she added in the report.
At least one of the government departments has responded. Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham says that the passport office is addressing concerns about the fact that information on Canadian passports that are lost or stolen each year is not available to front-line officers.
In a statement, Mr. Graham noted that, "as of February 2004, the Passport Office has been entering lost or stolen passport data directly into the RCMP's Canadian Police Information Centre database. This procedure allows law enforcement officials and authorized government departments and agencies to have immediate access to the data at all times."
He said a further agreement will allow the information to be shared with front-line border officers.
The audit was conducted before Prime Minister Paul Martin's government reorganized the national security programs on Dec. 12, when he took over as Prime Minister. Among the changes was the creation of the new Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness under Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, which combines the protection and preparedness office with security organizations such as the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
In the House of Commons, immediately after the report was tabled, the opposition jumped on the government's response to security issues.
"The fact of the matter is that the Auditor-General's report condemns the handling of terrorism and criminals," said Opposition Leader Stephen Harper.
"Why should Canadians trust the government after ten years of these failures?"
In her report, Ms. Fraser warns that while Canada has done no worse in managing national security since the terrorist attacks in New York than other countries, including the United States, the government must not be complacent.
In other chapters of her report Ms. Fraser found that:
— Health Canada is not adequately monitoring the risks of new medical devices on the market such as heart valves, blood-test kits and artificial hips.
— The Canadian Food Inspection Agency fails to adequately screen new plants imported into Canada, risking environmental damage.
— The Canada Revenue Agency lowered penalties to businesses that are late in sending employees' income tax, even though it had no authority to do so. The agency has never estimated the amount it overpays on GST refund claims.
But the security lapses uncovered by Ms. Fraser are sure to dominate headlines at home and attention abroad.
It's unclear how this latest report by Ms. Fraser will damage the Liberals. Mr. Martin had been planning an election for May or June but has been plagued by the $100-million sponsorship scandal. I
Information on the abuses of the government's sponsorship program were outlined in Ms. Fraser's last report in February, and since then, the Liberals have dropped into minority territory in the polls.
With a report from Canadian Press
