Transport Minister Lisa Raitt makes an announcement on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
January 15, 2014 - 12:42 PM
EDMONTON - The federal transport minister says the way security screeners at Edmonton's International Airport handled a young man who was caught with an explosive device in his luggage was unacceptable.
In a statement, Lisa Raitt says the 18-year-old should not have been allowed to board his flight after the device was confiscated.
And Raitt says security personnel should not have waited four days to contact RCMP, who eventually laid charges.
Skylar Murphy pleaded guilty last month to possession of an explosive substance and was sentenced to a year of probation and fined $100.
Court documents describe the material seized from his luggage as black powder and there are reports that say it was a pipe bomb.
Canada’s Air Transport Security Authority has said little about the incident, only that screeners do not have the authority to arrest passengers and that the organization constantly reviews procedures.
Raitt says she will call the president of the authority to discuss the matter.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014