Canadian citizens now get to worry about their names appearing on two separate no-fly lists: Canada’s, and the United States’.

Canada’s airlines, voluntarily and against the advice of the Canadian government, have been using the American lists of banned passengers to screen their clientele — for domestic flights within Canada. Of all the products to import from the U.S., they chose this one?

The U.S. no-fly list is full of misspellings and false identifications. Though a “redress” procedure exists on the TSA website that allows the falsely-accused to seek removal, it’s still virtually impossible to be removed from the list.

Best of all, there have been recent complaints that the U.S. no-fly list has been especially good at falsely-categorizing… Canadians. Two Canadian members of parliament, with the astoundingly generic names “Bill Graham” and “Pat Martin” have been delayed at U.S. airports because their names were on a list. They might just start getting delayed at Canadian airports, too.

On the flip side, Canada’s own no-fly list is coming under attack for not being aggressive enough: Membership in a terrorist organization is not sufficient reason to be put on the list, as group membership is not “a demonstrable threat to aviation safety.”

The debate in Canada actually shows the absurdity of no-fly lists in general. Yes, we need to keep threats off planes, but isn’t that what the metal detectors and puffer machines are for? And if the person is a criminal suspect, then isn’t that what ID checks and arrest warrants are for? (Hardcore libertarians may object to showing identification to get on a plane, or to identification in general; I’m not one of them.) But no-fly lists create an opportunity for government abuse, by punishing individuals — and those innocent bystanders whose names are similar — without a trial.

The lists also allow agencies to categorize groups critical of the government as terrorists, and thus as threats to the flying public. Think I’m kidding? Sadly, no. I would bet good money that there are people, whose only “crime” is protesting the war in Iraq, on the no-fly list.

Which now means they can’t fly in Canada, either.

Update: Here’s another great reason to be wary of the watch lists: Denver’s local ABC news reports that Federal Air Marshals have a monthly quota of incidents to report, and that the FAMs have been making stuff up in order to meet the quota. Innocent passengers who do something like taking a photo while onboard could find themselves pegged a terrorist. Fantastic.

Update 2: Even the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security thinks the watch lists are a joke. He calls them “too vague” and a waste of agents’ time. Read on.