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Auditor General Sheila Fraser. (CP PHOTO/Fred Chartrand) OTTAWA (CP) - Three and a half years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, airport screeners are letting fake bombs and guns get through security and the Public Safety Department still doesn't know who would be in charge in a disaster, Auditor General Sheila Fraser said Tuesday.
In her latest report, Fraser said there are still major gaps in emergency planning and air security. "There are some serious weaknesses that are left, areas that need to be looked at," she said. Fraser has pointed out similar problems in past reports.
"Last year, I said Sept. 11, 2001 changed our perception of how safe we are and led to higher expectations for our security," she said. "The government still has work to do to meet those expectations."
Among other things, she found that training to prepare police, firefighters and medical personnel to deal with chemical, biological or nuclear disasters is woefully behind. The government estimated it needed to train 6,000 people, but only about 200 are up to scratch.
She said Transport Canada doesn't know how well airport security systems work.
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http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/04/05/983571-cp.html
Do overbearing, shoe-removing searches at the airport make you feel safe? How about the crisp black and white uniforms of screeners since Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) took over?
Sadeq Naji Ahmed is Exhibit A that you are not safer, that the TSA isn’t screening the screeners. He’s also proof positive that radical Muslims in the military can get away with saying anything, while other soldiers cannot.
For almost two years, Ahmed was a baggage screener at Detroit’s Metro Airport, despite his frightening background.
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http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17593