Deciding who to add to Canada's no-fly list flawed: audit

A senior bureaucrat tasked with deciding who to add to Canada's no-fly list is not being given all the facts, an audit said Tuesday.

The passenger screening tool was introduced in 2007 to prevent people believed to pose a threat to aviation security from boarding domestic and international flights from or to Canadian airports.

The deputy minister of Transport Canada is ultimately responsible for who makes it onto the Passenger Protect Program list, on the advice of senior department officials, as well as Canada's federal police and spy agency.

An audit by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, however, found that the deputy minister "is not provided with complete information to allow for informed decision-making."

"We were concerned to learn that officials did not always provide the deputy minister -- who is ultimately responsible for adding to or removing people?s names from the list -- all the information needed to make these sorts of decisions," Assistant Privacy Commissioner Chantal Bernier said in a statement.

"This situation may raise questions about the decision-making process if an incomplete record were to result in an incorrect change to the list," she wrote in a report to parliament.

The program has sparked concerns in the past because it is secretive, using personal information without the knowledge of the individuals concerned.

The repercussions for a person named on the list being denied boarding on an aircraft "can be profound," including denying freedom of association and expression and the right to mobility, notes the report.