The recent image of a Syrian toddler whose lifeless body lay on a Turkish beach, prompted Canada's Citizenship & Immigration Minister Chris Alexander to suspend his re-election campaign and issue a statement designed to evoke compassion. Despite this ploy which took place against the backdrop of the world's worst refugee crisis since the Second World War, the conservatives, during the past almost 10-years, have displayed a heartless record with Canada's immigrant population. Here are five reasons why.
Refugees
Since mid-2013, Canada has settled less than 2,500 Syrian refugees. In January, the conservatives announced that Canada would welcome 13,000 Syrian refugees over a 3-year period, mostly through private sponsors. Yet our government has been near silent since then - until last week when it was forced to respond to this international humanitarian crisis. In contrast, Germany plans to admit as many as 800,000 asylum seekers this year alone, nearly 1% of its population. Sweden with a population almost four times smaller than Canada, took in more than 25,000 last year.
For refugees, the Conservative government implemented legal reforms that deny due process to vulnerable asylum seekers under a discriminatory two-tier system based on nationality. These modifications are currently being challenged in Federal Court. It also tried to eliminate the basic health care services refugees are entitled. The Federal Court struck down the government's cuts to refugee health care describing it as "cruel and unusual" because it jeopardizes refugees' health and shocks the conscience of Canadians.
The Harper government's pitiful refugee policies lay bare its punitive agenda against immigrants and refugees. Over the past 10 years, the federal government jailed an average of 11,000 migrants per year, including hundreds of children as young as age 16, without charge. Canada is one of the only Western countries to have indefinite incarceration. A credible report finds these policy changes imply reduced access to justice for refugees for whom consequences of refugee protection decisions are frequently life or death matters. Even permanent residents are now subject to arrest, detention and could face deportation for even minor criminality such as driving while intoxicated traffic offences.
Canada has traditionally been a safe haven to oppressed minorities across the world, being home to thousands of refugees from Vietnam, Hungary, and Uganda, among other countries. In 1979 and 1980 Canada opened its doors to 50,000 Vietnamese boat people who were fleeing the Indochina refugee crisis. But this has all changed under the Conservative government, which to date, has seen its refugee acceptance rates decline by 30%. It has been very reluctant to admit refugees from Syria. When pressed recently on the matter of excessively long approval and processing delays, Prime Minister Stephen Harper asserted that national security background checks take long and the safety of Canadians is first and foremost. If Germany and Sweden can successfully orchestrate a much larger refugee program with similar safety and security concerns to guard against infiltration by terror groups, surely Canada could do likewise. It just needs a more compassionate government.
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The content of this article reflects the personal insight of Attorney Colin Singer and needs no disclaimer.
