Subject: Cuba Action Alert
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:10:38 -0700
"RANDY CARAVAGGIO"
To all our friends & supporters:
we ask that we all strongly take action on the following notice. We
need to call them, write them and get hold of our MPs and demand that
Canada not give in to these yankee repressive regulations.
Victoria Goods for Cuba Campaign
Cartas a la redacción=========================
October 16, 2007
Dear Fellow Cuba Travelers,
President George Bush, without so much as a squeak of protest from the
Democratic Party presidential candidates or the government of Prime
Minister Stephen Harper in Canada, is planning to enact regulations
requiring that all Canadian airline passenger manifests -- from flights
to the Caribbean region and Central and South America -- be reported to
U.S. Homeland Security, the FBI, CIA, etc. The regulations are set to
go into effect later this month, unless you act today!
HOW DOES THIS AFFECT YOU AS A CANADIAN?
As a Canadian, it affects you dramatically. Let's say you visit Cuba,
which is ludicrously listed as a "terrorist state" by G.W. Bush, or
even if you visit Venezuela, Bolivia or Ecuador (seen as "emerging
terrorist nations" by the U.S.). The next time you travel across the
border, you could be held up at U.S. customs or worse. You could be
stripped and body cavity searched, detained or imprisoned; your
automobile and its contents could be confiscated; or you could be
turned back to Canada without explanation or recourse.
More than 600,000 Canadians visit Cuba every year to explore the island
or renew ties with friends and family. This could change soon unless
you take action.
Many Canadians also have friends and family in Venezuela, Bolivia and
Ecuador, or decide to visit because of the exciting political
developments occurring in these countries. If you go, your travel
itineraries could be on permanent file in the many sinister agencies of
the U.S. government -- all of which are hostile to the multicultural
needs and aspirations of the Canadian people. Please take action now
(see below). Don't let Bush and his little brother Prime Minister
Stephen Harper impose police state regulations on us!
HOW DOES THIS AFFECT YOU AS A RESIDENT OR CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES?
Residents and citizens of the U.S. who travel to Cuba via Canada will
be reported by the Canadian government to U.S. agencies, if these
regulations go into effect after October 22. A bilateral police state
reality will further limit the rights of U.S. citizens to travel.
We at Cuba Education Tours appeal to our friends in the U.S. to take
action today to stop Bush's draconian plans. Your letters and emails
will be extremely effective. Be brave. This is a noble cause. Our staff
and friends have all sent messages of protest and we stand with you in
solidarity. You have much to lose: your right to freedom of association
guaranteed by the U.S. constitution.
DEADLINE FOR ACTION IS OCTOBER 22!
Here's the minimum information the U.S. security agencies get if these
regulations go into effect:
* Full name, as the name appears on his/her passport
* Date of birth
* Gender
* Known traveler number (if applicable), identifying someone who the
U.S. government has already screened and ruled not a security threat.
Canadian carriers would also be encouraged to transmit further details
about passengers, including their itineraries, with a listing of their
departure airport codes, airlines, departure/arrival times and arrival
airport codes.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW
Send an email or fax message TODAY to the Canadian regulatory body in
charge of whether to agree to this regulation. Address it to:
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon
Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
Tower C - 330 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0N5 Canada
Telephone: (613) 991-0700
Fax: (613) 995-0327
Email: mintc@tc.gc.ca
Protest this proposed policy in the strongest possible terms. The
conservative Bush-loving regime of Stephen Harper is a minority
government. So your passionate messages of protest will have a big
impact. Any message you send will be read and noted.
In solidarity,
Marcel Hatch
_________________
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/10/11/uscanada-flights.html
CBC News Story -- October 11th, 2007
Canadian airlines flying through U.S. airspace will have to hand over
the personal data of everyone aboard the plane if a U.S.-proposed
program comes into effect -- even if the destination is not in the
States.
But the Secure Flight program, the brainchild of the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security, has already met swift opposition from the
organization that represents all Canadian airlines.
In a report published in Thursday's Globe and Mail, the Air Transport
Association of Canada (ATAC) said it was taken aback by the call to
require Canadian airlines to hand over passenger lists 72 hours before
departing for destinations that travel in the path of U.S. airspace.
The requirement to hand over the passenger information would stick
regardless of whether the plane takes off or lands at a U.S. airport,
meaning the changes would affect Canadian flights to such holiday
hotspots as Mexico and Cuba. However, in-country flights that only
briefly cross U.S. airspace (such as Vancouver via Toronto) are
excluded.
ATAC policy vice-president Fred Gaspar told the CBC that the proposal
-- if enacted -- could go as far as having U.S. planes intercept and
ground a Canadian airliner.
"Let's say Š that they don't like the person in [seat] 12C," Gaspar
said.
"They could then scramble fighter aircraft; they could force us to
land."
'DISCUSSION PHASE'
In a statement Thursday, Transport Canada spokeswoman Julia Ukrintz
said the proposed U.S. legislation was "currently going through
discussion phase" with Canadian officials.
"These are continuous conversations and the U.S. has indicated that it
does value Canadian aviation safety procedure already in place," she
said.
"The proposed U.S. rule currently exempts 75 per cent of flights that
overfly the U.S. We are also in discussion with the U.S. on the
remaining 25 per cent of overflights," Ukrintz said.
Homeland Security's Transportation Security Agency (TSA) wrote that the
goal of the proposal is to "prevent known or suspected terrorists from
boarding aircraft where they may jeopardize the lives of passengers and
others," according to the Globe.
NO-FLY LIST ALREADY IN PLACE
Still, Gaspar told the CBC the proposal seems out of place, since
Canada already has its own no-fly list in place -- a list that was
developed, in fact, after close consultation with the U.S. government.
"The Canadian and U.S. governments have been co-operating quite
extensively on the development of secure civil aviation," Gaspar said
Thursday. "Why would you encourage the Canadian government to develop
its own no-fly list if you're now saying, 'Thank you very much, it's no
value for us'?"
Under the proposal, Canadian airlines would reportedly have to disclose
each passenger's:
Full name, as the name appears on his or her passport
Date of birth
Gender
So-called "known traveller number" (if applicable). The number
identifies the traveller as someone who the U.S. government has already
screened and ruled is not a security threat.
Although it would not be required, Canadian carriers would also be
encouraged to transmit further details about passengers, including
their itineraries, with a listing of their departure airport codes,
airlines, departure/arrival times and arrival airport codes.
Gaspar said that ATAC has until Oct. 22 to launch a formal objection to
the proposal. He urged the Canadian government to submit an official
complaint.
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