XPost: misc.immigration.canada, soc.culture.canada, can.atlantic.general   
   XPost: can.general, can.politics, soc.culture.quebec   
   From: abc@a123.ca   
      
   Stolen Canadian passports a hot commodity   
      
   BY IAN MACLEOD, POSTMEDIA NEWS JULY 23, 2011   
      
   Passport Canada is developing new guidelines for matching people to their   
   travel documents after two Canadians were stranded overseas, their   
   government refusing to believe their claims about who they were.   
      
      
   OTTAWA — One of Canada's most respected assets — our passport — is under   
   siege, with more than 1,000 stolen across the country every month on   
   average, Passport Canada has revealed.   
      
   The surprising disclosure was made in the agency's latest annual report,   
   which says 13,077 passports were stolen in fiscal 2009-10. By comparison,   
   only 631 were swiped overseas. Another 47,704 passports were reported   
   lost in Canada.   
      
   Before 2006, about 25,000 passports were reportedly lost or stolen   
   annually. That number jumped to almost 43,000 in 2006-07, coinciding with   
   a surge in demand because of new U.S. passport requirements for Canadian   
   and other western travellers. By 2008-09, it was 53,000. Now, it's hit   
   60,781.   
      
   But only in the latest annual report has Passport Canada broken down the   
   combined "lost and stolen" total and publicly revealed the extent of the   
   theft problem.   
      
   Passport Canada officials, operating under the Department of Foreign   
   Affairs and International Trade, say the number of passports lost or   
   stolen is quite low in proportion to the total number of valid passports   
   in circulation.   
      
   "While it may appear to be rising, the number of lost/stolen passports   
   has remained quite static in proportion to the total number of valid   
   passports in circulation over the last three years," Beatrice Fenlon,   
   spokeswoman for Passport Canada, said in an email response provided to   
   Postmedia News.   
      
   In 2009-10, the total number of passports reported lost or stolen was   
   60,781, which represents 0.3205 per cent of the 18,962,745 passports in   
   circulation as of April 2010, Fenlon wrote.   
      
   In 2008-09, the number of passports reported lost or stolen was 53,515,   
   which represents 0.3145 per cent of the 17,015,462 passports in   
   circulation as of April 2009.   
      
   And the year before that, 51,915 of the 15,515,042 passports in   
   circulation were reported lost/stolen, representing 0.3346 per cent of   
   the total.   
      
   "Over the last three years, the number of passports reported lost/stolen   
   has remained consistent at about 0.3 per cent (of the total number of   
   valid passports)," Fenlon said.   
      
   However, the RCMP believes those missing passports are a national   
   security concern because of their potential use by terrorists or other   
   criminals.   
      
   A 2006 RCMP memo to then-public safety minister Stockwell Day said about   
   50,000 Canadian passports lost or stolen in the four previous years were   
   suspected of falling into the hands of criminals or terrorists.   
      
   A primary concern is identity theft, one of the fastest-growing crimes in   
   the world. In Canada, identity theft is estimated to cost the economy $2   
   billion annually.   
      
   In late 2009, an RCMP-led Integrated National Security Enforcement Team   
   raided dozens of locations around Montreal and Toronto — including three   
   daycare centres — and smashed what police said was a vast criminal   
   network specializing in forging passports and other official documents.   
   Police said bona fide passports "obtained through various means" were   
   forged to create new identities.   
      
   Meanwhile, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) says   
   terrorist groups rely, to some degree, on crimes including passport   
   forgery to raise money.   
      
   CSIS director Richard Fadden told a parliamentary committee last summer   
   that foreign spies value the Canadian passport, too.   
      
   "I think one of the reasons that Canada's so attractive is that we're so   
   well-viewed around the world, and our passports are accepted virtually   
   anywhere, so there is a level of concern," he said.   
      
   What's more, federal officials say confidence in Canadian passports —   
   that the bearer is who he says he is — is critical to trade, the economy   
   and international travel.   
      
   Passport Canada, at the urging of former federal auditor general Sheila   
   Fraser, has implemented a number of security measures in recent years,   
   including quick notification about lost and stolen passports to the   
   national police information database, Canada Border Services Agency,   
   Citizenship and Immigration and, through the RCMP, Interpol.   
      
   Fenlon said when informed that a passport has been stolen or lost,   
   Passport Canada immediately invalidates the passport within its system   
   and the Canadian Police Information Centre, and communicates the   
   information to other agencies with which it has information-sharing   
   agreements, including Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and the Canada   
   Border Services Agency.   
      
   "In many cases the passports do 'turn up' — whether the bearer finds it   
   or someone else who then turns it in to the authorities. For example,   
   someone who finds a purse (and the passport is inside) may return it to   
   their nearest police station," she said.   
      
   All passports reported lost or stolen that are returned to Passport   
   Canada are sent to its security bureau for inspection and destruction.   
   Once a passport has been reported lost or stolen it is no longer valid   
   and cannot be used for travel. This is to ensure that it is not used for   
   fraudulent purposes, Fenlon said.   
      
   "Before a lost or stolen document can be replaced, Passport Canada   
   conducts an investigation into the circumstances. This may lead to delays   
   in processing the replacement passport," she said.   
      
   A replacement passport, which may only be valid for a limited period, may   
   be authorized if strict requirements are met. These include the   
   submission of a statutory declaration concerning the lost or stolen   
   passport.   
      
   More than 4.8 million Canadian passports were issued in 2009, a 137-per-   
   cent increase since 2000-01. Late next year, Passport Canada is to be   
   begin distributing electronic passports to the general public. The   
   ePassports feature biometric and holographic security measures to combat   
   tampering and fraud.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)