Angry in the Great White North

Transport Minister John Baird and Liberal Senator Colin Kenny proved themselves to be proactive where it counts.  They deliberately (and with little effort) breached the security at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, and wandered unchallenged on the tarmac.

When the discovery of the security lapse was made public, the GTAA board reacted by attacking the RCMP officers who had quietly shadowed Baird and Kenny as bodyguards, charging that the Mounties ought to have stopped Baird and Kenny.

This was an absurd reaction, and made me think about whether the GTAA board even understood the seriousness of what had happened.

It looks like that the GTAA board finally come to their senses:

Transport Minister John Baird says the Greater Toronto Airports Authority has owned up to "serious" security shortcomings he discovered at Pearson International Airport.

Baird met yesterday in Ottawa with GTAA president and CEO Lloyd McCoomb and other executives to discuss security concerns he raised after he walking unchallenged onto the airport tarmac during a visit more than a week ago.

"The GTAA has accepted full responsibility and informed me that immediate action is being taken to address the serious issues that were identified last week," Baird told the Star.

The cordial meeting was a far cry from the initial reaction of the GTAA, which blamed the RCMP officers assigned to accompany Baird and Senator Colin Kenny during the visit and revoked the officers' escort privileges.

"I am satisfied that they (GTAA officials) are seized with the important issues in front of them and have taken a significant amount of immediate action and are looking at some intermediate steps," Baird said.

The Mounties are no longer being punished, by the way.

I wonder if the board started to wonder if their initial reaction was putting their jobs in danger.  If I had the power to remove the lot from the boardroom, I would have.

They seemed to have avoided that fate.  I suppose we don't need any more bad news on the unemployment front.

I don't know that the board deserves a second chance on this, but I am certain they don't deserve a third.  Not on the lapse itself, but on the attempt to shift the blame and the responsibility.  I hope that's the message they've received.  I bet that will keep them focused on their job of keeping the airport secure, and taking proper responsibility for any problems that might happen in the future.