The Canadian border guards are using a US-made database of people with alleged ties to terrorists entitled "Tuscan" in their identity checks for all incoming and departing persons, The Guardian reported, citing government documents obtained by it.
According to the media outlet, Tuscan contains information on some 680,000 people who may be subject to extensive background checks or even denied entry to the country. The database is also reportedly used in identity checks of those applying for visas or immigration.
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Canada has its own no-fly list that bans certain people from boarding planes if they are suspected of having ties to terrorist groups. However, this list is less secretive and a person can apply to be removed from it if he or she was listed by mistake, which has happened several times already. The Tuscan list is used at all of Canada's borders, the Guardian reported, and it is unclear whether a person can apply to be removed from it.
The media outlet also pointed out that the list, which is rarely referred to in government documents, was created in 1997, but received new life after 9/11, when it was significantly expanded. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and then-US President Barack Obama reportedly agreed in 2016 to expand it even further, but the details of the cooperation between two countries are yet to be revealed.
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Relations between Washington and Ottawa have been strained since US President Donald Trump announced the imposition of harsh import tariffs on steel and aluminum coming from various countries, including Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed that Ottawa would give a reciprocal response to the tariffs.
