Judge slams government for nixing woman's airport security clearance

A government decision that stripped a woman of her airport security clearance and put her out of work more than two years ago was unfair, incomprehensible and unreasonable, a Federal Court judge has ruled.

In ordering the minister of transport to take another look at the case, Judge Susan Elliott slammed the government for treating Ayaan Farah in a shoddy fashion.

The advisory group that recommended revoking the clearance did not carefully review documents, Elliott said in her written decision, while the director general of aviation security failed to "ensure the critical facts upon which she relies are very clear."

Elliott quashed the revocation, saying the government had hidden behind the Privacy Act and failed Farah badly — especially in light of the "gravity of the consequences" to her.

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Farah expressed delight with the ruling, saying she hopes it will help others caught in a similar situation.

"I hope this brings light to the fact that Transport Canada needs to do a better job regarding security-clearance decisions — cancelling people's clearance," Farah said in an interview Tuesday. "Transport Canada needs to change its policy."

In April 2014, Transport Canada told Farah that the RCMP had reported her having contact with criminals only identified as subjects A, B, and C. Police claimed that two of the individuals used Farah's car to go to a funeral for a known gang member — although she was not in the car and did not attend the service.

RCMP also said police interacted with her while she was in A's company but she said she had no memory of being stopped by police and that she did not know who the criminals were, although her lawyer suggested one may have been her brother.

Police, citing privacy concerns, refused to name them.

"These sparse allegations are unique in the annals of security-clearance revocation cases," Elliott observed in her judgment.

"Ms. Farah was simply not provided with enough information to allow her to make any kind of meaningful response."

Government ordered to pay costs

Farah, 31, a Somali-Canadian, protested she was a law-abiding citizen with no criminal record who was being falsely accused of having ties to gangsters.

Nevertheless, Transport Canada revoked her security clearance in November 2014. US Airways then suspended the eight-year customer service rep and ticketing agent at Toronto's international airport without pay or benefits.

Farah, who has just completed her health-services studies, said she was waiting to see whether Transport Canada would fight Elliott's ruling, and had not decided whether to try to return to her airport job.

"I've been through so much stress," she said. "We'll see what happens."

Transport Canada said Tuesday it would review the decision before deciding on any further action.

At the Federal Court hearing in January, a government lawyer told Elliott the legislation around security clearances only requires the minister to reasonably believe a person might be prone to, or induced to, do something that could interfere with civil aviation. Elliott, however, was not persuaded.

"The conclusion in the decision is not intelligible or transparent," said Elliott, who also ordered the government to pay her $2,000 in court costs.