Canada following U.S.' Footsteps on Drone Use

Drones - the word itself evokes disturbing imagery from terminator movies and sci-fi novels.  Yet the use of pilotless aircraft has been around since the post World War I era and has recently ramped up considerably with the introduction of the MQ-1 Predator in 1995 and the Bush/Obama CIA wars of the 2000s.  Be that as it may, we Canadians seem to think that domestic drone use is something you might see in the U.S., but not Canada, right?  Well think again.

With several police departments in Canada already employing drones for surveillance, the Canadian Government has recently been looking to even further loosen the regulations surrounding unmanned aerial vehicles (A).  Experts in the industry say that if Transport Canada is successful at changing policy and removing the current restrictions on drone use, you could be seeing UAV’s  on reconnaissance missions in a neighborhood near you within the next year or two.   Lauded for their breadth of applications and technological frontierism, the Canadian drone movement has seen a groundswell of support over the last years from policing departments as well as the Canadian Forces.  

The RCMP has fully embraced the use of drones - RCMP Staff Sgt. Dave Domoney stated for media that, “It’s starting to catch on more and more. Eventually, I think you’ll see [drones] in almost all the provinces” (B).  Last year, the RCMP’s F Division, who is spearheading the use of UAV’s in Canadian police forces, posted it’s intention to procure 3 Qube drones for $270,000.  Not only are the drones absurdly expensive, but they are also “extremely invasive” as Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner, Ann Cavoukian warned in a report on drone use in Canada last year.  Transport Canada currently requires the commercial and governmental use of UAVs to be disclosed in a standardized document; however, the primary intent of this submission is safety - not privacy. Cavoukian warns that the imminent use of drones in Canadian policing departments for constant surveillance will require “special use restrictions and regulatory measures” in order to avoid a complete erosion of civil privacy.  Despite her admonitions, the current direction in Canada is towards relaxing UAV regulations instead of tightening them.  

It would seem much of the media and publications focused on UAV technology flaunt their use and potential.  Take for instance this TED talk by Vijay Kumar on aerial drone collaboration (D).    Much of the political discourse on this topic is focused on potential application as well as safety for police and defence forces.  All the while, the risk of abuse and harm get overlooked.  Few news sources question the efficacy and ethics of current military drone usage.  In President Obama’s first term, hundreds of innocent children were murdered in Pakistan and Yemen through his drone assassination campaign.  The Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates that  in Pakistan alone, 891 civilians have been killed by U.S. drones since 2004 (E).  Nevertheless, their integration into Western civilization has been not only steadfast but praised by both the media and masses.  Am I going to be the only person out there terrified if a drone hones in on me from above to ensure that I am acting lawfully?