It didn’t take long for the recently initialled transportation agreements between Canada and Israel to pay off.

Sometime last week, at a location that can’t be revealed, people in the security field, or maybe not, took part in an exercise that can be considered security-related, or maybe not, to prepare against threats that may or may not have to do with transportation.

At least, that’s what can be gleaned  from reading between the lines of an interview with federal Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt, fresh from a recent visit to Israel.

She was part of a delegation of Canadian officials, including Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who signed several agreements enhancing commercial and security relationship between the two countries.

The agreements initialled by Raitt include an air transport agreement, a declaration of intent on aviation security and a memorandum of understanding on transportation. The deals were signed less than a year after Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Israel and concluded a memorandum of understanding that contemplated further agreements to enhance trade and other relations.

Raitt was reluctant to reveal too much about security co-operation, but did acknowledge that “there was a security exercise carried out and Canada and Israel both took part in it. It was with our officials from Transport Canada in a real-time situation. I can’t tell you what the exercise was, but I can tell you it did happen and it’s that kind of co-operation that the second agreement that we signed will help facilitate and draw us all closer together.”

Was the exercise in Canada?

“I can’t tell you.”

Staying on the security theme, Raitt said she visited the port of Ashdod and saw how security was balanced with “the need to be productive. Fascinating to see how technology is being used.”

“There’s a lot there our ports can learn from,” and Israel can also learn from processes at the port of Vancouver, she said.

Rail was another area of transportation that was discussed during her visit. “People [in Israel] want to see mass transit though rail,” she said.

Her visit took her to Sderot, near the Gaza border, where she toured a fortified train station. “It’s interesting to see that every facet of your life, including transportation, you have to think about security,” Raitt said. “We’re getting to a place here in Canada where we have to think about security more and more as well. We’re not immune. This terrorism is hitting all shores, and we have to make sure we don’t take it lightly. We need to do what we can.”

Raitt also met with representatives of Bombardier, “which has a great book of business in Israel,” she said.

The air transport agreement could see more commercial flights between the countries, Raitt continued. It “allows for greater flexibility for flights from Tel Aviv to Canada in general, and from Canada to Tel Aviv. That was important, as we know there can be greater demand for air travel back and forth. We’re liberalizing and making it easier to do so.”

She said more direct flights to Israel from other Canadian cities would depend on the airlines and whether the flights are warranted. “I know there’s a lot of interest in a Montreal flight. Our purpose is to make sure we’ve opened up greater flexibility for carriers to provide those services.”

Raitt said she visited an Israel Aerospace Industries facility and discussed its development of drones, adding there may be Canadian applications for the unmanned aerial vehicles, “utilizing them… for the northern part of our country, in terms of observing spills, if there are any, and doing search and rescue.”

Raitt was impressed with the vitality of Israel high-tech industry. “We ended up going to visit a start-up place, an area where people with small start-up companies go to get help to get them off the ground,” she said. “And the energy, the entrepreneurship and the innovation that is happening is fascinating. That is an area we can certainly learn from in Canada and it’s something we should welcome investment in and investment back, too.”

Raitt’s visit to Israel was her second. In 2004, she was part of a UJA mission, that focused in large part on the security challenges facing Israel at the time.