Liberals to repeal Conservative immigration bill

Immigration Minister John MacCallum has introduced legislation in the federal parliament that repeals the law passed by the former Harper government that stripped dual Canadian citizens of their citizenship if convicted of terrorism-related offenses.

The Liberals promised during their 2015 election campaign that they would repeal the law. The promise was applauded by many lawyers, civil rights activists and others. So far the law has been used to deprive only one person of his citizenship — Zakaria Amara, the ringleader of the so-called Toronto 18who were charged back in 2006 with planning "to detonate a truck bomb in downtown Toronto, storm Parliament Hill and behead the prime minister."

Amara, also a Jordanian citizen, was convicted back in 2010 and sentenced to life in prison. Although he is eligible for parole this year, he is unlikely to be released given the nature of his crimes. The group had been infiltrated by Mubin Shaikh, who worked on behalf of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Amara is not likely a popular choice to receive his citizenship back.

However, McCallum said that the power of the government to strip a person of citizenship because they happen to commit a terrorist offence while being a citizen of another country should be removed as a "matter of principle." As McCallum put it: "A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian." There are not two classes of citizens with different rights those who are not dual citizens and those who are. Justin Trudeau had used the exact same phrasing in arguing against Stephen Harper during a leader debate in the 2015 campaign. Trudeau also said:"And you devalue the citizenship of every Canadian in this place and in this country when you break down and make it conditional for anybody." McCallum also noted: "It will still be possible to revoke citizenship, as it always has been, for those who misrepresent who they are or who are guilty of citizenship fraud. I think under the previous law there was a risk of a slippery slope. If one crime made you eligible for revocation this year, what crimes could be added next year?We do have a criminal justice system. We do have courts. We do have prisons where those convicted of crimes are sent. And that is the way in which we deal with this."The Harper government had used the euphemistic title "Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act" for their legislation.

When Amara's citizenship was revoked midway through the 2015 election campaign, the Conservative Immigration Minister, Jason Kenney,tweeted: "This man hated Canada so much, he planned on murdering hundreds of Canadians. He forfeited his own citizenship."Conservative MP Michelle Rempel was critical of the Liberal decision, saying:"Make no mistake. This bill is a win for Zakaria Amara and not many Canadians. A lot of Canadians will question the government's judgment with the decision made today."McCallum admitted that the optics of the situation were not that favorable: "My life might be a little simpler if there wasn't this one person out there. But the fact is, there is. So I am comfortable adhering to the point of principle that this applies across the board."

The Conservatives used Amara for their own political purposes during the campaign. It did not seem to work then and it may not work now either. The NDP was also opposed to the Conservative legislation. Tom Mulcair accused Harper of "strutting his stuff for his right-wing base." The French socialist government is planning the same type of legislation concerning dual citizens as the Conservatives. In the last six years, the UK has stripped almost 40 citizens of their citizenship and that includes some who were born in the UK.

The new bill also reduces the time immigrants must spend in Canada before they can apply for citizenship and it also eases the language requirements for new arrivals in Canada. The credit removed from international students was also restored. McCallum said of the removal:"The dumbest actually was taking away the 50 per cent credit for international students, because if there's any group in this country who would be good Canadians — they're educated, they know about this country, they speak English or French — it's them. So why punch them in the nose when we're trying to attract them here in competition with Australia, the U.K. and others?"

Even Al Jazeera noticed that the Liberals were repealing the Conservative citizenship law. The paper notes that the move was applauded by Laura Track, a counsel for the BC Civill Liberties unions, who said: "We applaud the government for introducing these changes to restore equal citizenship in Canada. Bill C-24 was discriminatory and unconstitutional."Rona Ambrose, CPC's interim leader, has expressed concern over Amara's citizenship status via Twitter, saying that the government announcement "bestows Canadian citizenship on a convicted terrorist." Conservative MP Rempel also criticized the government: "I would like to think that the first principle that we put forward, that we're not celebrating people that commit terrorist actions against our country."

Raj Sharma, a Canadian immigration lawyer, was critical of the Conservatives, saying: "They're signaling to their base that they they're tough on [terrorism]. That was pandering to the gallery, done for political purposes." The new bill should easily pass through the parliament as the Liberals have a majority.

Canada: 280,000 skilled worker applications to be wiped out by Immigration Dept.

If a business had huge lineups and long waits for service they would have more staff at more checkouts. That is not the way the government works. The government just lets the lines get longer and longer and the wait times longer and longer. If you complain you are likely to get your file put at the bottom of the pile. Now the lines and waits are impossibly long the solution is to just tell the people they will not be processed at all. Start over and apply under the new rules.

The Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has said elimination of the backlog is necessary so that the government can focus on new applicants who can fill specific labor gaps. Business needs is the focus and that is all that counts. It used to be that family unification was a strong focus. Now if those already here want to get their parents over as well often the line is so long that parents would have to come to Canada in a casket!

David Chalk a Montreal Lawyer remarks:“These people have had the rug pulled out from underneath them,” “The government of Canada invited people who had certain qualifications to apply, these people invested time energy and hope." Too bad. They must be sacrificed on the alter of service to some of those who support and donate to the Conservative Party.

Citizenship and Immigration complains that it is coping with half a decade of application backlogs. So whose fault is that? Certainly it is not the fault of all the applicants who spent time and money going through all the hoops that are required by immigration. For more see this CBC article.

Canada: Face veils disallowed while taking citizenship oath

 
      Immigration minister Jason Kenney has placed a ban on wearing face covering garments during ceremonies at which immigrants recite the oath of citizenship. The ban would include the niqab and burkas among other things. This may cause problems if the ceremony is held outside in minus 40 degree since no doubt full face ski type masks will be covered (pun intended) by the ban. Batman better stay in the U.S. as well.
    The ruling is in line with what is happening in Quebec where a similar ban will force women to unveil when receiving government services and laws in some European countries which ban the veils in public. Tunisia bans the veils at universities a practice that has caused recent demonstrations by Salafists.
     Kenney takes the position that it is not a religious but a cultural tradition and at the pilgrimage to Mecca women must unveil themselves. Even if it is not a religious obligation but a cultural tradition this does not seem a reason to ban the veil. The practice does not seem to harm anyone. When my wife attended her citizenship ceremony the people arrived in all sorts of attire. Some were in suits, a few had traditional dress of their homeland, others dressed very casually. The citizenship guide notes that it is appropriate that those taking the oath wear their traditional dress should they wish. Several men seemed to be taking time off their construction work and were in work clothes.
    Of course liberals will say the niqab or burkha are signs of women's oppression. Nice that Islam haters can go along with this. Of course the veiled women themselves are never asked if they want to have the veil removed. No need to consult these brainwashed, oppressed women. Free them whether they like it or not.
   Apparently citizenship judges and some MPs complained to Kenney that women wearing the veil could not be seen reciting the oath. Surely the point is to be heard. Put a microphone in front of them if you can't hear them. Are dumb people --those who cannot talk-- refused citizenship on the grounds they cannot be heard reciting the oath. I think the whole issue is politicized and used by politicians as a means of gaining support. Lets see the opinion polls on support for the banning. I expect they will be very much in favor. For more see this article.