Totes adorbs! 8-year-old Adam Ahmed has been fighting the Canadian government to remove his name from the no-fly list for two years, and it’s seriously the cutest!
Two years ago, Ahmed was stopped at Pearson Airport because he had the same name as an adult man on the no-fly list, which is compiled from the names of high risk individuals within Canada and literally no other identifying information whatsoever. Like any kid who loves hockey and hates being a victim of the government’s thinly veiled racial profiling, Ahmed just had to do something! But what?
The answer is not nothing! Ahmed has been working hard to get the government to adopt a system that involves more than the absolute minimum effort to separate high profile risks from children. I think I can speak for all of us when I say “Awwwww!”
Wearing his best suit and adorable matching sneakers, Ahmed was recently seen at a subcommittee meeting in Toronto to push for funding for an improved tracking system that won’t accidentally target under-10s. While similar proposals have been rejected by the government as recently as last year, we’re sure that this charming young rogue will get the job done! Could anyone say no to a face like that?
One government official says maybe: “I mean he’s cute, but he would have had a better chance if he’d started on this when he was even younger,” said a source from the office of the federal public safety minister, “I mean, let’s not talk about the thousands of adults who are caught up in this mess. They’re not even remotely cute”.
Ahmed will soon bring a petition to the House of Commons to ensure the right to free, unimpeded travel for he and thousands of other Canadians who share names with people on the Specified Persons List under the Secure Air Travel Act (SATA). I bet he’ll be putting that on his resumé ten years from now!
You may not have had to convince the government you weren’t a terrorist when you were in elementary school, but I think we can all agree that when Ahmed does it, he absolutely melts our hearts!
