Member Article

Canadians allowed to say 'bomb'

Canada has decided to relax its anti-terrorism measures slightly, by not arresting people who make jokes about guns and bombs in airports. Air travelers will from now on only be arrested if it is clear they are making a serious threat, Reuters reports.

The Canadian Air Transport Safety Authority, trying to clamp down on screeners who alert police every time they hear alarming words, has issued a bulletin urging staff to show more discretion. A person who announces “You’d better look through my suitcase carefully, because there’s a bomb in there”, “The man in seat 32F has a machine gun”, or “I am going to set fire to this airplane with this blowtorch” will still be arrested. And rightly so, particularly for the last one.

But someone who remarks “Your hockey team is going to get bombed (badly beaten) tonight”, “You don’t need to frisk me, I’m not carrying a weapon” or “Hi Jack!” will first receive a stern telling off.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .