Ontario premier orders Canadian flights to stop if US imposes new rules

The premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, has said there should be no flights to and from the United States if it imposes new restrictions on passenger jets, including Canadian-operated aircraft, after it had a drone fly over the Statue of Liberty in New York.

Ford suggested there may also be a move to ban Canadians from entering the US for at least a month, as it did in the wake of Donald Trump’s travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries. “If they’re coming to Canada they’re going to stay at home,” he said at a press conference in Toronto on Tuesday evening.

The information minister, Lisa MacLeod, suggested that such a move would be a “painful and divisive” idea.

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Ford also announced that his ministry is currently reviewing airport security in Ontario, adding he could not say what the result of that review would be.

It was previously reported that the Conservative government had been forced to hire an adviser who is an expert in cyber and security issues to deal with “major issues related to the flow of information” between the UK and Canada, specifically related to the data of “Canadian citizens” travelling through US-owned airports.

Last month, the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, warned Canadians travelling overseas that the US was considering new flight restrictions.

Canadian security officers said a “list of a handful of international airports including in Canada” was under consideration by US authorities.

Trudeau said at the time: “Those airports are currently under review. We are working with our friends and allies in the United States to understand any necessary changes to procedures.”

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