The National Post reports in its Wednesday edition that in an internal briefing note this past June, a Public Safety Canada official urged the government to support a fascinating pilot project being run by Air Canada. The Post's Tom Blackwell writes that the airline was testing a system where passengers verified their identities at the boarding gate through facial-recognition equipment -- no passport or boarding pass required. Deputy minister Shawn Tupper was only adding to a chorus of voices promoting the idea. Air Canada's Vancouver project turns out to be one piece in a Canadian-backed, worldwide drive to usher in a potential new era of air travel, one where traditional physical documents would be largely replaced by facial features as a passenger's entree to airports and countries. The concept could save airlines money, lessen the hassle of flying -- and possibly create brand-new privacy threats. In a request for information quietly issued in October, Transport Canada asked for contractors to propose ways of implementing its Air Right Touch initiative, where passengers could move through the airport on the authority of their own facial biometrics, tied electronically to passport and other data.