TORONTO – A Toronto-area boy who made national headlines because his name matches one that’s on Canada’s no-fly list is reportedly still having difficulty boarding planes.
Six-year-old Syed Adam Ahmed, who had to go through rigorous security checks to fly to Boston two months ago, was supposed to be removed from the no-fly list by now.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale promised in January that he would review the specifics of the Markham Ont. boy’s case, because airlines were ignoring a government directive not to screen minors against Canada’s no-fly list.
READ MORE: Public safety minister to investigate 6-year-old’s travel troubles
But when Adam went through security Friday morning at Pearson International Airport to fly to a family wedding in Edmonton, the flags came up again.
Khadija Cajee, the boy’s mother, said they weren’t able to check in online again.
And she said while the Air Canada ticket agent didn’t have to call the security centre to have the boy cleared for check-in, she still had to visually identify her son.
“He still needs to be visually identified,” Cajee told 680News. “He’s just a child, he’s done nothing wrong.”
READ MORE: ‘Complete profiling’: parents call for action for young children on security watch list
Unfortunately, the boy’s name matches that of someone else on the no-fly list.
The publicity generated by Adam’s difficulties in boarding planes prompted dozens of other families to contact Cajee and 21 of them agreed to be mentioned in a letter she sent to federal cabinet ministers involved in the issue.
In addition to his edict regarding handling children whose names match those on the no-fly list, Goodale’s department is also looking at changes that would help identify those who have similar or the same names as people on the no-fly list, but are not the intended targets.
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