I’ve read a few things over the past week that I wanted to say something about, but with my computer upgrade I’ve been too busy to get to. So here are my thoughts on separate topics, condensed into one posting.
Today for instance I noticed that movie theaters figure that $10 is a cheap trip to the movies. I routinely go for $4 total [no popcorn or drink] at Rainbow Cinemas in Regina. The movies are sometimes a month old at least, but I can see nearly 3 movies for the same price as one in a larger cineplex.
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The ever senseless Transport Canada has eased its business killing restrictions on some items people normally would think they could take onto a plane. Sure yogurt maybe isn’t the best thing to store in the overhead compartment (just ask my friend who saw a yogurt spilling accident on a WestJet flight), but maple syrup is banned? We know a non-Canadian dreamed up this industry killing policy, when the staple food of tourists gracing Canada’s airports, is put on a do-not-fly list. I guess the terrorists have figured out how to wage economic warfare on our tree tapping industry, without even blowing up a bottle of water in demonstration of their power.
Even more amusing/enraging, is the ad CBC automatically and randomly inserted on their newspage. It was by Transport Canada telling you to leave pointy things at home so flights would be safer. I have a screenshot of the ad. I laugh because my last time on a flight home from Newfoundland, I had a sewing kit from the hotel, and it was in my carry on luggage. I just assumed that if I wasn’t supposed to have a needle on the plane, security would take it away from me. I guess even after they sniffed my bag for explosives, they assumed I wasn’t enough of a threat to stop me from Sewing On A Plane.
I’m writing an email to my Member of Parliament about Transport Canada’s restrictions. Since I can’t joke and yell in an airport about how stupid security measures are there, I have to direct my displeasure at a politician who is responsible for the safety and efficiency of Canadian airports.
mintc@tc.gc.ca Minister of Transport Canada
Breitkreuz.G@parl.gc.ca Member for Yorkton-Melville
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon
Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
Tower C - 330 Sparks St.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1A 0N5Dear Minister Cannon:
Transport Canada is currently restricting certain carry-on baggage people would normally take with them onto airplanes. Bottles of water are banned on the fear that they might contain a liquid explosive like gasoline, while items that are always explosive when heated (such as batteries found in your Blackberry) are not banned. Since I can not shout and make a scene to protest this insanity while in an airport, my letter to you is the best thing I can do to fix the situation.
My simple question is, “What are you doing to fix this problem of benign items like water being barred from planes, while explosive items that you and I carry onto planes each trip are allowed?” The knee jerk “solution” of banning liquids and gels when our planes were threatened, has gone too far now that the danger is over. If you recall, planes did not fly after September 11, 2001 because it was feared that they would be crashed into buildings, but days later we put planes back into the air. If we treated planes like we are treating our toothpaste and maple syrup, we’d have no airline industry today!
Please direct Transport Canada to remove carry-on luggage restrictions that only give terrorists another silent victory over our daily freedoms and rights. Your reply will be appreciated.
Sincerely,
[Saskboy]
Please copy/modify my letter and send it to your MP and the Transport minister as well.
Zack | 20-Sep-06 at 9:11 am | Permalink
I just read that many airlines are banning Dell and Apple laptops because of the recent battery recall. Add those to a long list of stuff you can’t take on the plane. Pretty soon we’ll have to be naked to have the privelege to ride on an airplane. Maybe they’ll start putting people through the X-ray machine soon.
I am surprised that I haven’t seen the rail and bus companies taking advantage of this situation. I guess its possible to hi-jack a train but it woudln’t make much sense. If it wasn’t so expensive to take the train I would probably do that rather than drive, but I can drive to Edmonton and back on $80 verses a few hundred dollars to take the train.
SkylarKD | 20-Sep-06 at 12:26 pm | Permalink
Arrgh, I was hoping the stupid water ban would be lifted by the time I leave for a business trip on Monday. No suck luck, I see.
I know some people don’t think it’s a big deal, because you can get water from the flight attendants, but (a) I like to drink a lot of water to prevent feeling parched from the dry air, and those dixie cups just don’t do it for me, and (b) the teeny tiny planes we have to take out of Fredericton don’t have any flight attendants, let alone drink supplies! The co-pilot just yells emergency instructions at the passengers over the whir of the propellors. :P
I’m sure the smart airport security experts could find a way for us to safely bring beverages on airplanes, even if it means selling it to us themselves after we’ve gone through security.
Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy » Blog Archive » Flying somewhere? Don’t take body butter - but razor OK | 21-Dec-06 at 11:11 am | Permalink
[...] – I’ve previously written on this shameful behaviour from the people who are supposed to be putting work into areas to keep Canada safe, not putting body butter on a Homeland Security style no-fly list. My MP didn’t even get a reply from Minister Cannon in September. [...]
Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy » Blog Archive » Minister of Transportation finally responds | 31-Mar-07 at 7:31 pm | Permalink
[...] about 10 minutes how Canada’s airport security functions. This call was a belated response to my letter from last year, and my many, many, follow up letters, including a couple from my Conservative Member of Parliament [...]