On the evening of the second terrorist attacks on London’s transit system, New York City instituted searches of people entering that city’s subway stations. The fact that these searches began when they did was merely coincidental; they had been planned since shortly after the London attacks on July 7. Those who were chosen at random had their bags and knapsacks looked through by New York City police officers as a prerequisite to being able to board a train. It logically followed that instituting a system of random inspections in the Toronto system, the third largest in North america after New York and Mexico City, became a hot topic of conversation.
It is highly unlikely that such action will ever be undertaken in Toronto and it is probably just as well. appearing on CTV’s Question Period, Toronto Transit Commission Chair, Howard Moscoe, undoubtedly expressed the views of the powers that be when he said, "If somebody wants to blow themselves up, there’s nothing that anyone can do." Moscoe went on to say searches would create fear and that would mean that the terrorists have won.
at least Moscoe came a long way from shortly after July 7 when he said that terrorists wouldn’t be able to find Toronto so we would have nothing to worry about. although to reasonable people, Howard Moscoe is nothing but a joke, he is undoubtedly expressing the will of our political leaders about the futility of instituting random searches of subway passengers. These searches will never happen in Toronto.
The way Moscoe spoke, he was a perfect example of what Minister of Public Safety, anne McLellan, said when she said that Canadians were not psychologically prepared for a terrorist attack. Moscoe kept talking about steps that were taken to make the subway system more secure after a major accident 10 years ago and after the electricity blackout of 2003. When told by interviewer, Craig Oliver, that these were all measures after the fact, Moscoe repeated his belief that since nothing can be done to guarantee an attack won’t happen there is no sense taking preventative measures. Howard later bragged that he had a security system installed in his home but only after it had been broken into. He thinks that’s the only time anyone gets a security system.
In short, there is simply no political will to try to prevent a terrorist attack on our transit system. While hanging on to the belief that it won’t happen here, we are content to play defense. Contrary to what Moscoe says, it’s hard to believe that it is this type of thinking that allows the terrorists to win.
If we did institute random searches, people would then have the option of refusing to be searched and not entering the system. a terrorist about to be searched could simply turn around and walk a short distance to another station. at most random searches might prevent multiple bombers from entering the system at the same time and carrying out simultaneous multiple attacks but it would not make the system any safer. It would be nothing more than a waste of resources.
The real reason that random searches would be a waste of resources is that any searches, like those currently undertaken in New York, will have to be carried out in a politically correct fashion. Young white teenage boys and elderly african-Canadian women will be equally subjected to the searches. For these procedures to be effective, only those people who fit the profile of those who are currently carrying out terrorist acts should be subjected to scrutiny — young males who appear to be of Middle Eastern or Pakistani descent. Until such time as white teenage boys and elderly african-Canadian women start flying planes into buildings or blowing up subways, it is an absolute waste of time and resources to search these people on the pretext that they could pose a danger to our transit system. The truth is that our leaders would prefer to see the Yonge Street subway station blown up rather than to "offend" any Canadian Muslims by conducting searches on those who fit the profile of the people who want to destroy us. Random searches would be doomed to failure from the outset. The city of Toronto can ill afford to institute "security measures" that are simply for show.
Then again, we have to remember that this is Toronto. Radical Islamic extremists are not the enemy — Miss Universe is.
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