January 27, 2014 - 10:45 AM
OTTAWA - Canada's border agency is eyeing a new information-sharing program with the Americans to help catch employment insurance cheats.
A border agency briefing note, obtained under the Access to Information Act, says the entry-exit tracking program could be used to police various benefit programs as well as identify people travelling abroad to engage in terrorism.
The entry-exit system, to be fully in place by June 30, is a crucial feature of the vaunted perimeter security pact with the United States.
The tracking system involves exchanging entry information collected from people at the land border — so that data on entry to one country would serve as a record of exit from the other.
In addition, Canada plans to collect information on people exiting by air — something the United States already does — by requiring airlines to submit passenger manifest data for outbound international flights.
The briefing note says the system could help zero in on people receiving employment insurance or child family tax benefits while absent from Canada, contrary to program rules.
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News from © The Canadian Press, 2014