John Baird is One Sick Puppy - Not Being Able to Hold it Won't Fly With Him

Boy if you thought Peter Van Loan and Jason Kenney were twisted, John Baird is trying to outdo them both.

Over the holidays a tiny and frail 85-year-old woman was demoralized because she was wearing safety panties. This is horrible and I can't even imagine how she must feel.

But did our Johnny boy care? Not on your life. If you can't hold it, you can't fly. Is this really who we are now, because if it is, the terrorists have already won.

Baird backs airport search of 85-year-old woman
By Christian Bergmeister,
The Ottawa Citizen
January 10, 2010

OTTAWA — Transport Minister John Baird was unapologetic Sunday about the invasive search of an 85-year-old woman conducted by security personnel at the Ottawa Airport.

Baird was asked on Sunday news show Question Period about the treatment of a 4-foot-10, 90-pound woman who was travelling from Ottawa to Toronto on Dec. 28. The woman was asked to remove her boots and then unzip her pants. A female inspection officer then poked at her abdomen.

The woman’s niece, Cynthia Sutcliffe, told the Citizen that her aunt, a former federal public servant, is now “terrified” of airport security and that the search was “extreme.”

But Baird argued that even people who seem non-threatening cannot be disregarded by security.

“The reality is, as we’ve seen in Iraq, the al-Qaeda network has put explosive devices on developmentally disabled adults and then sent them into marketplaces where their bombs were detonated,” said Baird, “Obviously we have to deal with every concern. I think we should use common sense.” (I think you should use common sense John. And maybe a little common decency)

In Sutcliffe’s view, the case of her aunt doesn’t pass that “common sense” test.

Sutcliffe’s aunt was taken from an Air Canada security line during a random search.

“She has osteoporosis and her stomach protrudes a little bit,” Sutcliffe explained in her first interview with the Citizen. “But that is no reason for this kind of search.”

Sutcliffe said her aunt is frightened she will be searched again.

Next time her aunt flies, Sutcliffe said she will get a pass that will allow her to take her aunt to the boarding area, an option she was previously unaware of.

As part of new airport security measures, Baird explained that 44 full-body scanners, at a cost of $11 million, will soon be arriving in major airports across Canada. Twelve scanners are arriving this week while the other 36 will come in five to 10 weeks.

At Canadian airports, adults will have the option of either going through a full-body scanner or being subject to a pat-down. Youth under 18 will not have to go through a scanner and will be patted down instead, said Baird.

Sutcliffe is skeptical of full-body scans because some elderly people who go through the scanners will be wearing incontinence briefs.

“I want them to catch the bad guys, don’t kid yourself. But if it’s your grandmother or grandfather who is going to be wearing those undergarments for personal incontinence and things, and then they start saying, ‘Well the guy that blew up the plane had the stuff in his underwear,’ where do we stop?”