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Technology: key to the security conundrum
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, I chaired a Cabinet Committee on Public Security and was asked by the Prime Minister to act as counterpart to Tom Ridge, the former Governor of Pennsylvania who became the White House Advisor on Homeland Security.
While concerns about security had been rising in Washington, 9/11 made these concerns paramount. Not much has changed since then. Americans continue to feel vulnerable, making it simply good politics in the United States to be wholeheartedly in favour of strengthened security.
Some of the measures proposed by US legislators range from excessive to ridiculous: the notion that the United States would be safer if there were a wall built or thousands of National Guardsmen stationed on the northern border being in the ridiculous category. One hopes that good sense will prevail and such extreme measures will not be pursued very far.
However, Canadian policy-makers need to be concerned about this because of the importance of access to the United States for the Canadian economy. I would go so far as to say that the single most important objective of Canadian foreign policy is to keep the Canada-US border open to people and commerce. This was the objective that Governor Ridge and I pursued in the aftermath of 9/11: recognizing that we were trying to manage, not eliminate risk, we actively sought technological solutions to achieve our objectives.
The challenge of the Canada-US border is to get the right level of security to reassure the public while not interfering unduly with the free flow of goods and people. Since September 11th, we’ve seen progress in the use of several forms of technology to help achieve these objectives, including secure identity cards using biometrics as well as equipment that can scan containers at the land border. We have seen many changes at airports, where new technology is being deployed to help detect dangerous substances.
While progress is being made, challenges also exist. The United States Congress has enacted the “Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative” (WHTI), which could profoundly impact the land border. It also creates technology challenges as well as opportunities.
The WHTI would require every traveler entering the United States starting in January 2009 to carry a passport, or some other form of identification, which has not yet been specified but will take the form of smart cards with imbedded chips. These chips will include information about an individual’s identity and citizenship, biometric data such as a fingerprint or iris scan and a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip that will allow cards to be read remotely.
Many other agencies are developing their own forms of secure ID for a variety of purposes. These will include drivers’ licenses, IDs required by the US government’s Real ID Act for air travel in the US, airport “trusted traveler” IDs, government employee IDs, and port IDs. At a practical level, it may mean that a truck driver making deliveries across the border into the US may require separate secure IDs in the form of a border crossing card, a port security card, a secure driver’s license, and a permit to carry dangerous goods, among others.
These ID systems are being developed in isolation. They will cost billions of dollars to put in place and there is no guarantee that the technology for one system will be compatible with the others. For individuals and companies, it will mean separate cards requiring separate applications and separate fees. For taxpayers, the duplication will result in hundreds of millions of dollars of additional costs. It is important to get the systems right, because governments are unlikely to write off tens of millions of dollars a few years after developing and installing a secure ID system because it makes more sense to have a system that is compatible with others. Additionally, poor implementation of the systems could add major costs to businesses and cause severe inconvenience for individuals.
The Canada Border Services Agency has developed sophisticated models of six key border crossings. It predicts that, if WHTI is launched along the land border, there will be serious delays. In particular, at the world’s most important border crossing at Detroit-Windsor, CBSA can find no formula where WHTI does not create gridlock. The consequence would be major economic losses and severe inconvenience to individuals.
Thus, technology is not only key to our security, it is also key to protecting our economy from unnecessary disruption. The heightened demand for security creates opportunities for Canadian companies and researchers. In my view, there are too few Canadian companies that have made significant impact in this area, given the opportunities that exist.
That said, two companies that look promising – Optosecurity Inc. of Quebec City and Allen-Vanguard of Ottawa. These companies have found success in this space, proving that excellent research can find a pathway to the resources needed to produce successful commercial products.
It is linking research to the resources needed to achieve commercial success that is the role MaRS seeks to play.
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John Manley
The Honorable John P. Manley served as a Liberal Member of Parliament from Ottawa South for 16 years. During that time he was Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, Finance Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Industry. He is now Senior Counsel with McCarthy Tétrault. He is Vice-Chair of MaRS and sits on several corporate boards including CIBC, Canadian Pacific Railway and Nortel Networks.
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