The RCMP is expecting international criticism in the wake of its decision to dramatically slash its air marshals program providing security on airplanes and it has already been warned by pilots that the move will jeopardize the safety of passengers from radical terrorists, Postmedia News has learned.
The program, established in 2002 after the 9/11 attacks, involves specially trained covert Mounties who blend in with regular passengers on selected domestic and international flights.
Known as "inflight security officers," they carry semi-automatic handguns, are trained for fighting in closed quarters, and are seen as the last line of defence against suicidal hijackers or bombers.
The plainclothes air marshals are part of the Canadian Air Carrier Protective Program, and news leaked out through the RCMP's union last October that the program was about to be hit with a 25% budget cut in the wake of a "strategic review" by the government's Treasury Board.
Documents obtained by Postmedia News through the Access to Information Act reveal internal memos describing how the cuts will occur, how the Mounties are briefing Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, and how the police and cabinet ministers are receiving some dire warnings about the consequences of the cutbacks.
The Mounties' briefing note to Toews explains that the air marshals program is seen as a "world leader" of its type and that it has been successful through a "combination of operation, intelligence and analysis activities."
"International partners were made aware of the funding reduction to the Canadian Air Carrier Protective Program," Toews was advised. "The RCMP anticipates a negative response from American and international partners."
In late October, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott received a strongly worded letter from the Air Line Pilots Association (International), urging him to halt the cuts to the air marshals program. The pilots wrote that since its inception, the program has proven to be one of Canada's most effective deterrents in countering the threat posed by "radical terrorists."
They added that the cuts are "difficult to comprehend" because global intelligence reports continue to indicate that aviation remains a primary target for terrorists.
"Because terrorists are intelligent, adaptive adversaries who are known to repeat their success and to be persistent in correcting their failures, the decision is even more puzzling," says the letter, also sent to Toews and Transport Minister Chuck Strahl.
"It is our opinion that the decision to make these CACPP staffing reductions is not only highly inadvisable, but is, in fact, a serious mistake that significantly jeopardizes the security and safety of airline travellers in particular and public safety in general, not only in Canada, but in other countries as well."
According to the documents obtained by Postmedia News, Greg Browning, the RCMP officer in charge of the program, informed fellow staff of the change through an e-mail last September that acknowledged the cuts would have an effect on the "morale" of those within the program, which was being cut by $12.1 million as of April 1, 2011.
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