NO FLY NUMBERS

Posted on 05/17/2016 | About Canada

The public could be a step closer to knowing a jealously guarded federal secret: the number of people on Canada's no-fly list. A judge has ordered Transport Canada to revisit two Access to Information requests - one for the total number of people on the list, the second for the number of Canadian citizens.

In withholding the figures, Transport Canada invoked a section of the access law shielding information whose release could interfere with the conduct of international affairs, as well as the detection or prevention of terrorist activities. Federal security officials argued the information could help terrorists plot a catastrophic attack on an airliner. In a ruling made public today, Federal Court Justice Simon Noel says the department failed to properly exercise its discretion under the law as to whether to release the material.

Noel says Transport did not back up its argument that international relations with the United States and others would be harmed by release of the numbers.