Ten-year-old temporarily grounded

Saskatoon's Alistair Butt laughs when asked if he's a security threat to Canada's airline industry.

"A 10-year-old a terrorist? What?" said an incredulous Butt, who learned he was on a "no-fly" list when he tried to fly from Ottawa to Toronto earlier this month.
Alistair, his brother and mom had joined dad on a business trip to Ottawa, flying with no difficulty on June 6. But when the foursome checked in at the Air Canada counter in Ottawa for a flight to Toronto on June 8, they were told there was a security issue with 10-year-old Alistair. He was on a list, labelled as a person of interest, says Alistair's dad, Usne Butt.

"Initially it was humorous. We teased him a bit about having evil tendencies, but subsequently it became a little tedious," he said.
"He's never been to Afghanistan. He's a very sweet boy -- very polite and well-mannered."

It's not clear what list Alistair is on. Air Canada personnel didn't provide that information. And Transport Canada's "no-fly" list, identifying individuals with terrorist connections or those believed to be a threat to aviation security, did not take effect until June 18 -- 10 days after the Butts were delayed at the Ottawa airport.

At the check-in counter, the Air Canada agent entered Alistair's birthdate and middle names in an attempt to get clearance for Alistair to fly. She made a telephone call. Nothing worked. After about 20 minutes, the agent issued a boarding pass.
"They just made the decision that the kid was 10 and it was apparent to the agent that he wasn't a person of interest and they let him board. But they warned us that it would happen again," said Usne Butt.

And it did happen again, in Toronto two days later when the family attempted to fly home to Saskatoon via Calgary. After another delay, Alistair was issued a boarding pass.

In neither case did the Butts miss their flight, but they are concerned about future travel plans.

"I'm thinking about going on a trip with my grandparents somewhere far away, to Egypt or something, maybe this year, maybe next year. If I do, I'll need my name off the list," said Alistair, a home-school student who just completed Grade 4.
Dad agrees.

"Certainly, I would hate to have some issue come up when he was out travelling overseas," said Usne, who agrees, in principle, with a "no-fly" list.
"But there's a line between reasonable and absurd and in this situation, it's crossed over to the absurd."

The question remains: what list is Alistair on? Everyone in the family is Canadian -- born and raised here.

Transport Canada spokesperson Julia Ukrintz would not comment on the case, but she reiterated the point that Canada's "no-fly" list was not in effect until after the family travelled. And she said a traveler is flagged only when the name, birthdate and gender are identical to those on the Canadian list.

"The U.S. no-fly list has been applied to Canadian flights that were not flying to the U.S., but were domestic flights by some of the air carriers. That's not the decision of the government of Canada. That's up to the individual carriers who determine they want to expand upon and use the U.S. no-fly list," Ukrintz said from Ottawa.

Angela Mah, Air Canada's spokesperson, would not confirm if the airline is using the U.S. list, nor will the company tell the Butts who compiled the list that includes Alistair's name.

"We cannot provide information about the list or names on the list because that breaches security," Mah said in an interview from Vancouver.
The possibility that their son is on the American no-fly list is even more troubling for the family.

"The only people who are going to be punished by this is the innocent because every time Alistair goes to an airport, he's guilty until proven innocent," said his mom, Trisha Layton.

CanWest News Service