If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
If Bill C-31, "Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act," passes in parliament, Canada will lose its reputation for fairness and human rights and, more importantly, hundreds if not thousands of people's lives will be adversely affected. Refugees would be ineligible to sponsor any immediate family members and these refugees would be second-class people in Canada.
Every year, the flow of people fluctuated according to supply and demand. Some years, a total of 60,000 people were allowed in, and some others years 150,000. This guaranteed that immigrants found work because they were screened properly to insure their success. Then in 1986 the Mulroney government opened up the floodgates.
The last excerpt from finalists competing for this year's Donner Prize, to be announced tomorrow, is about "possible reforms to Canadian immigration policy that would benefit not only Canada but those who wish to build their future here.
Happy Earth Day! I hope to spend today, ideally, puttering about my garden. Yes, we can all aspire to do something more high-minded, but even just beautifying your own patch of soil contributes to the pleasure of everyone around you (including even something as simple as a window box).
Relaxing, too, will help me recover from what was truly an amazing week here at HuffPost -- and what promises to be another in the coming week. In home news, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney joined our editorial team on Wednesday for dinner -- and a no-holds-barred question session, including questions from our readers. You'll be impressed by his frankness.
The tar sands industry now faces legal challenges from First Nations, low carbon fuel initiatives in California and the EU, opposition to its pipelines in the U.S., in British Columbia, and in Eastern provinces and states. Are all these people crazy? Is it still you, not me?
For those of you looking for a simple way to represent these ties, here is a graphic that tries to capture some of the main ones uncovered so far. Please pass it around so that some daylight shines into this dirty business.
This isn't about whether we think wearing burqas or niqabs is a good idea or not. The issue is whether a government should be able to impose its notion of national identity on its citizens
It seems we are living in an era of mediocrity where the merging of leftist and Islamist narrative has numbed our ability to see the obvious contradictions this unholy alliance poses to our civilization. How long will this era continue? Will Minister Kenney find allies from across the political divide?
The rules of diplomacy say that the Conservative government cannot directly attack Canada's oil competitors -- particularly the ones it finds distasteful -- so did it prime an outside entity to do so?
In deporting the Benhmuda's Canada's refugee system made a mistake. Fortunately, it's being given a second chance; let's hope this time it gets it right. Let the Benhmuda's come home.
The Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act (Bill C-4) does anything but what its title suggests. It is not about preventing human smuggling; it is about callously punishing those who may or may not have been smuggled in an attempt to gain a better life.
Some Afghan translators were killed by IEDs, but it's safe to assume that every single Afghan translator or interpreter is on a list somewhere, marked for reprisal. They know this, and knew it when they volunteered. We, as a country, owe these young people, just as we owe our soldiers who served in our name in Afghanistan.
Suggesting that the existence of worse offenders precludes a rights organization from questioning the actions of Canadian officials, or other 'lesser offending nations,' is tacit acknowledgement of belief that there should be a double standard in international human rights.
If it's proven that the intercepted human smuggling ship was not coming to Canada, Jason Kenney can say he never said it was. If it's proven it was en route to our shores he can say I told you so. I believe the minister was simply piggy-backing on a media story to press his political agenda.
Could Conservatives be targeting certain groups of immigrants for votes -- misleading them on facilitating a swifter immigration process -- while writing off others who came as refugees?
Should a leader be elected based on equality of all ridings regardless of size? Should it be one person, one vote? More importantly, with a majority government for the next four years, why do some Conservatives want to risk party unity now with a divisive battle over leadership rules?
