The refugee issue traditionally attracts more attention from Canadians
Generally, the refugee issue does not greatly worry Canadians, but for many it is a kind of irritant. Not everyone is satisfied with the situation that the country accepts a large number of refugees from third world countries and is forced to support them at its own expense. Against the backdrop that a significant number of people use the Canadian refugee status system, who, by and large, face no real danger in their home countries, and who use this route as a way to stay in Canada and receive social benefits, placing a tax burden on the pockets of ordinary Canadians, such a reaction from the residents of the Maple Leaf Country is quite understandable.
In addition, the refugee problem also generates the following negative aspect – to protect the country from an influx of people who could potentially stay in Canada and pursue refugee status, immigration authorities very often deny visitor visas to people who do not even think about it. This leads to a restriction of business and humanitarian contacts with other countries, prevents the development of many types of businesses (primarily tourism), and ultimately creates a far from favorable image of Canada on the world stage. Suffice it to recall the story of the introduction of visa regimes with the Czech Republic and Mexico, which was accompanied by a diplomatic scandal, threats of introducing a visa regime for Canadians to enter European Union countries, and so on.
On the other hand, for many Canadians with liberal views, who dream of world peace and universal prosperity, Canada's open doors for refugees are a mechanism that, in their view, helps realize their ideals of universal well-being and justice. Any attacks on the existing system and attempts to bring order to this area are met with hostility. That is, the refugee issue, in my opinion, is quite acute for Canadians, and largely divides society on opposite sides of the ideological barricades.
So, after the scandal that followed the introduction of a visa regime for citizens of the Czech Republic and Mexico, it became clear that the refugee status system had thoroughly outlived itself, and something needed to be done about it. I recall that the reason for introducing a visa regime for the aforementioned countries was a sharp influx of people from them who applied for refugee status with clear economic motives, without real threats to their lives.
In particular, ethnic Roma from the Czech Republic came to Canada hoping not to work but to receive social benefits, and from Mexico came primarily people who expected to get expensive medical care. Recall that persons awaiting a decision on their refugee status application receive full medical care, like citizens or permanent residents. All this placed a fairly heavy burden on Canada's budget.
Work on the new draft law on granting refugee status has been underway for the past 14 months, in close cooperation between the Conservative and Liberal parties. The ultimate goal of such cooperation was to create a new application review procedure that would significantly shorten decision-making times. The main point of the new law was to be a list of "safe" countries, whose residents would automatically be denied refugee status in Canada (effectively without reviewing their application).
The work on the project from the Liberal Party was led by Mr. Bevilacqua, who is responsible for immigration policy within the party. And until the very last moment, Canada's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Kenney (a representative of the Conservative Party), was confident that such joint work would make it possible to prepare a version of the legislative act that would satisfy all parties and could be adopted without much delay. But in practice, things turned out differently.
Despite previously expressed support, at the very last moment the leader of the Liberal Party, Mr. Ignatieff, announced that his party would not vote for this law because it requires serious revision. This decision (which came as a surprise to many) was the result of pressure on Ignatieff within the party, primarily from former Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Denis Coderre. The subject of criticism was precisely the main point of the new law – the compilation of a list of "safe" countries. Ignatieff drew attention to the fact that compiling such a list would lead to serious political tensions with those countries that are not included in the list, as well as to the fact that refugee status might be denied to those who truly need it, even if they are residents of one of the "safe" countries.
As follows from statements by representatives of both parties, it is hardly worth expecting the adoption of this law in the near future. It is also worth adding that the adoption of the new law would involve investments of 600 million dollars, which were to go toward creating a more efficient system for processing refugee status applications.
Although the adoption (or rather, non-adoption) of this law directly affects the interests of the vast majority of our readers almost not at all, nevertheless, the consequences of this step will affect many. In particular, the delay in adopting the new refugee law means that problems with issuing visitor visas to Canada will not go away. After all, the lack of an effective mechanism for handling refugee status applications will push embassy staff to act in the old way, that is, suspecting everyone who applies for a visa to enter Canada of planning to stay and apply for refugee status. And most importantly, all Canadian residents will have to continue to support at their own expense those who are awaiting a decision on their refugee status application.
Elena Ryabinina.
«Russian Toronto»