|
"We
Can Agree to Disagree"
by Ahmad Ktaech
znet Interactive:
http://zena.secureforum.com/interactive/content/complexthedj@hotmail.com
On May 21st, The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Denis Coderre made
a public appearance with Liberal M.P. Carolyn Bennett to discuss the new
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act at St. Paul School. This was the latest
stop from Coderre's Public Relations tour to gain support for his audacious
reforms in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Acts. Making appearances in
such “strategic” places as the Wellington Detention Centre in Guelph (a maximum
security jail that he wishes to transform to an Immigration Detention Complex),
Coderre aims to somehow magically persuade the public to accept his reforms with
open arms even though he knows that the chances of the public accepting his
reforms are as slim as having the Federal Courts issue an apology to Coderre for
his disregard and deliberate manipulation of laws and Immigrant statistics for
his benefit.
Coderre has misled Parliament on several occasions: the most prominent and
public one being that of the backlogged immigrant applications. Coderre has told
Parliament that there were only 30,000 applicants backlogged, i.e., who are
waiting for their application to be processed. In reality however, the numbers
are in the area of 80,000 – 100,000. Coderre has also stubbornly failed to
invest into this process the $125-million surplus that is accumulated from visa
applications. The Left has always been critical of the Liberal's immigration
policies, particularly when someone such as Denis Coderre is in charge of them.
So being a part of the protest outside St. Paul School was nothing new in
particular. What is new however, and which will hopefully demonstrate the
atrociousness of these new reforms to the already brutal Immigration and Refugee
Reform Acts that exist, is that Parliamentary members have also been very vocal
about Coderre's actions and policies. Several parliamentary members (and the
number is increasing as Coderre continues his public relations tour across
Canada) have called for Coderre's resignation. Some MPs have even gone in so far
as to suggest that Coderre be fired from Cabinet. A Federal Court ruling stated
that Coderre lacks respect for parliament, immigrant-visa applicants, and even
the truth, to which Coderre responded “you can't please everyone.”
What is behind Coderre's new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act reforms?
Here is a brief description of Coderre's new policies and proposed reforms that
have changed the system since June 2002.
Top
The Immigration & Refugee Board
The Federal Government has instructed Coderre to create a Refugee Appeals
Division within the Federal Court System to better assess refugee claimants.
Coderre has responded by cutting the Immigration and Refugee Board panel in
half, making it now only consist of one member that reviews a refugee's
application. Coderre proposes that The Immigration and Refugee Board be
abolished entirely, leaving refugee determination in the hands of Refugee
Protection Officers. Why should this reformation cause panic amongst us?
Limiting the number of officers/judges/personnells increases the probability of
making an unbiased decision and will most likely result in one that fails to
take into consideration the cultural and political backgrounds of the
applicants. In Montreal, concerned activists are working with lawyers and
government officials to make Palestinian refugees gain “legal” status in Canada.
Those who have been rejected have been rejected under the grounds of “there is
no Palestine, so there are no such things as Palestinians” and “the situation
over there is temporary.” By cutting down the members of the Immigration and
Refugee Board or attempting to eliminate it completely, you put the fate of
refugee claimants in the hands of culturally ignorant Refugee Protection
Officers who will make decisions that could not be reviewed by another
individual for their validity, truthfulness, and fairness. There are repeated
cases of individuals being rejected asylum in Canada because the individual who
is reviewing their application has no cultural or political understanding of the
situation that these applicants are coming from. Cases from Algeria, Palestine,
Congo, are not far and few in between. The Immigration and Refugee Board are
increasingly rejecting asylum seekers from the Middle East and the African
region. When asked on May 21st at St. Paul School what his take is on asylum
seekers is, Coderre answered, “I won't promote amnesty because there are too
many people that are abusing the system.” However, when asked for specifics and
numbers as to how many people, according to Coderre's terms, are “abusing” the
Immigration system, Coderre is quick to ignore the question and turn away.
Top
Retroactivity
Coderre wants to apply his new regulations to cases that are already in
process; justifying such a culpable act as an administrative convenience that
will speed the review process of applicants. Employer groups, Legal experts and
even the House of Commons Standing Committee on Immigration have all voiced
their opposition against Coderre's retroactive policy, which the Immigration
Department has consciously chosen to ignore. Since the education and language
requirements of Coderre's new policies are so shockingly high, it is estimated
that 90% of applicants who would have qualified under the old regulations will
not qualify under these new reforms. Therefore, it is not surprising that the
number of visa applicants to Canada has dropped from 100,000 (2002) to 26,000
(2003). The pre-Coderre policies assured applicants some level of assurance when
they applied for immigration. An example of this assurance comes when applicants
are locked in on the date that they apply, i.e., if you met the requirements on
the date of your application, you were somewhat assured that your application
would be “pleasantly” reviewed. However, the Immigration Department now requires
that you not only meet high standards on the date of your application, but you
also have to meet them when your visas are issued (3-4 years later)! The rules
and regulations can change during that time and according to the Immigration
Department, that is something that applicants have to be aware of. What does
this mean for the visa application process? It is no longer the old flawed
standardized process that had at least some sort of assurance but a lottery
contest where the applicant is guaranteed nothing and their “eligibility” is
determined by a chance system. This on-going retroactivity is not only expensive
for the applicant (and a way for the Immigration Department to collect more
money) but it is also very uncertain and unpredictable.
Top
The Point System
The previous point system was out of 110 where an applicant needed 70 points
to pass. The new system however is out of 100 and the applicant needs 75 points
to pass. Under the new system, the points are much harder to obtain and the new
system puts an incredible stress of proficiency in the French language. Although
in theory Canada is supposed to represent a bilingual society, in reality
unfortunately, the French language is not a significant factor outside Quebec.
The new point system discriminates heavily against applicants who are single, do
not have family members in Canada, have not worked or studied in Canada, and who
do not have job offers from Canadian companies.
Who will not qualify under the new system? Here's a general list:
Computer Programmer from India Civil Engineer from Iran Management Analyst
from Iran Computer Systems Analyst from the UK Mechanical Engineer from the
Philippines Pharmacist from the Philippines Computer Programmer from Romania
Medical Laboratory Technician from Iran Internal Auditor from the Philippines
Architect from the Philippines Translator from Colombia Education Researcher
from Israel Family Counsellor, Social Worker, Psychiatric Social Worker from
Colombia (The Federation For Better Immigration Policy)
Top
Visa Post
To further discourage people from applying for a visa to what Coderre so
boldly refers to as “our land,” it is now a requirement that applicants file
their application in the country of their nationality. This is a strategic move
on the part of Immigration Canada because they know that this will result in
most, if not all, applicants being discriminated against. They will have to wait
exceedingly long periods and face an excruciating processing time; forcing them
to either abandon the process or not even apply altogether. Coderre uses the
excuse of under funding and Immigration Canada's inability to accommodate the
amount of “traffic” that it receives at its Immigration posts throughout the
world such as its offices in Paris.
“We can agree to disagree,” were Coderre's first words speaking to an
audience of lawyers, activists and a very small portion of English-speaking
immigrants. All the protestors decided to attend his speech after Carolyn
Bennett's “outburst” outside as she tried to answer protestor signs and remarks
by saying, “If you are going to *****, at least back it up.” And so we did. We
went inside to ask Denis Coderre some questions that have been asked before but
never answered.
“We can agree to disagree,” he says. “I will not answer specific cases only
general cases. And I will choose who gets to ask the questions. If I don't like
your question, I will move on to the next.”
Coderre started, as most people in his position start, by vague thank yous to
his supporters and some statistical numbers to make him and his department look
good. He stated that as of today, the immigration percentage stands at 65%
skilled workers, 25% family, and 10% refugees and asylum seekers. He proceeded
to establish an argument for the importance of opening up our doors mostly to
the skilled worker because by 2011, all of Canada's entire workforce will depend
on immigrants. He echoed the same sentiments that right-wing journalists write
about when tackling the topic of Immigration and Economy: Canadian government
policy should exploit strategies that will maximize the capacity of our existing
economic, social, and demographic structures. When asked about the secret trials
and detentions that are becoming far too frequent in Canada after 9/11 in which
immigrants are being detained, convicted, and deported without ever knowing what
their charges are, Coderre repeated Bennett's earlier comment that there is a
tendency to keep information secret (even incriminating) not only between the
government and its citizens, but also between factions within the government
itself. “We are trying to work on that,” was all that Coderre could say.
Top
Someone from the audience asked the question if whether or not Coderre's
policies and reforms are a response to his fear of having a melting pot scenario
occur in either Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver, to which he responded that
“we've never had the melting pot scenario in Canada; we prefer stir fry.”
Coderre's new reforms and policies concentrate on what has been called the
“New Human Capital Approach.” He wants to increase the percentage of immigrants
in Canada's workforce because it is what Canada's economy needs. But increasing
the percentage of the skilled immigrant will mean that we would have to decrease
the other percentages. One can easily predict that the refugee percentage will
suffer most: probably sinking to 5% or lower. What would happen if we made
Canada's entire workforce rely on immigrants without changing the racist and
defaming policies that already exist within Canadian laws? What we will see is
the unfair increase of Canada's economic wealth at the expense of immigrant
labor. Most people acknowledge that immigrants work at a cheaper pay, have less
benefits, are often abused at the workforce (either through racial
discrimination or language barriers) and are often easily threatened with
replacement.
Humanitarian Immigration Policies are non-existent in Canada and are instead
replaced with Economic Immigration Policies. Many of those who attack Coderre's
policies on refugee reform, hypocritically agree with the Immigration Department
that Canada should lay out the welcome mat only for skilled immigrant workers
because they are needed to fill jobs and pay taxes. When only 7 minutes is spent
on an application by a department that is headed by someone who wants to violate
the mobility rights that ALL residents of Canada under the Charter (citizens,
immigrants, refugees alike) are entitled to by giving preferential treatment to
those applicants who sign a social contract that commits them to settle outside
of the major cities, one cannot help but smirk whenever the Immigration
Department utters fables that their policies are implemented with the utmost
regards to the dignity and self-respect of immigrants.
Coderre fails to understand that Canada, as a state is built on the
displacement, dispossession, and genocide of indigenous peoples. He similarly
fails to comprehend why the public was in an uproar over his identity card idea
that all Canadian citizens are required to carry with them at all times. Coderre
also fails to answer concerns over “non-status” individuals and their rights as
human beings rather than statistical numbers.
We need to start a solid campaign in support of indigenous, refugee,
immigrant, and “non-status” individuals. It is extremely important that we make
sure that the majority of those who are in this movement are the groups that are
being threatened most with Coderre's immigrant reforms. We need to set up
information sessions and public speaking forums in indigenous or immigrant
communities that explain the reforms, their manifestations, and what can be done
to counteract them. We have to at one end concentrate on getting grassroots
participation while simultaneously working as lawyers, consulters, and support
workers with those who are directly experiencing the effects of the system.
Detention centers and holding compounds are incomprehensible and we need to
struggle politically, socially, and aggressively to make sure that those in
power understand that we will not accept their reforms. As immigrants are
increasing in our communities it is important that we act as in solidarity with
them being careful not to act as their superiors and directors. We need to make
sure that landlords are not taking advantage of them, bosses are not getting out
of them more than they are receiving from their jobs, police are not using
violent tactics that are racist in their roots against them, etc…”Non-Status”
individuals are extremely vulnerable to racist and bigotry practices and we need
to form conceptualized networks where these individuals can turn to. We have to
demonstrate wherever Coderre and his caucus make a public presence but at the
same time, we have to move beyond having only protesting and genuinely
representing the struggle by social and political actions. Coderre speaks as if
our only choice is to either accept his reforms or sit on the side. We have to
make sure that he understands that we will not accept his reforms, we will not
sit aside, and we will continue to push for the prevalence of human rights over
economic benefits and exploitation.
Peace.
Ahmad Ktaech Toronto, ON
Top
|
