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Friday, August 13, 1999

Joel-Denis Bellavance
National Post

OTTAWA - Elinor Caplan, the new Immigration Minister, yesterday defended Canada's immigration system by saying that Canada is a world leader at intercepting illegal migrants abroad before they can set foot on Canadian soil and demand refugee status.

She said that Canadian officials intercepted in 1998 close to 6,300 illegal migrants destined for Canada -- mainly at airports -- almost twice the number than a year earlier, when 3,186 individuals were stopped.

Officials working for Immigration Canada work at airports in the United Kingdom, France and the United States and stop suspected illegal immigrants before they can board planes to Canada.

The same officials also brief airline companies about what people to look for.

Ms. Caplan said she was confident that Canadians would not experience an explosion in the number of foreign ships heading into Canadian waters.

"Our geography does protect us from some of that" the minister said in a telephone interview. "It is very dangerous and very precarious for anyone to get on a boat. We have seen tragedies in the past and I hope that people around the world would be aware of the dangers of getting themselves in the hands of human smugglers who are ruthless, desperate people."

The minister said that proposed changes to Canada's immigration laws -- stronger means to intercept illegal immigrants, stiffer penalties for people-smugglers and increased use of detention when people are smuggled into the country -- should serve as a deterrent.

The minister made the comments one day after an unmarked vessel dumped 130 Chinese immigrants -- including several children -- near a beach on B.C.'s Queen Charlotte Islands and three weeks after another 123 Chinese boat people arrived on a ship off Vancouver Island after several harrowing weeks at sea.

She promised that the refugee status hearings for the latest boatload of hopefuls would be completed efficiently. It currently takes about 11 months before a claimant's case is heard. Any individual facing a deportation order may remain in Canada because the decision can be appealed.

The Reform party said the Canadian government would be sending a stronger message to the organizers of smuggling rings and those tempted to illegally enter the country if the latest refugee claimants were dealt with in a swift manner.

Leon Benoit, the Reform immigration critic, said Canada could face a crisis.

"It's not a crisis now because a couple of hundred of people have arrived by boat," he said. "But we have to send the message now. If we stick to the old system that we have, which can drag on for years, we are going to send the message to people smugglers and to those who would use their services, 'Continue to do it because Canada let you stay'."

The Reform MP said such a measure is necessary to ensure that Canadians continue to have faith in their immigration system.

For his part, Pat Martin, the NDP immigration critic, rejected the suggestion, saying a "hundred more refugees does not mean the sky is falling or that we are being invaded by aliens."

Ms. Caplan said illegal migration is an international problem that "requires international cooperation, international solutions and Canada is co-operating with other countries that are facing the same concerns that we are."

She said that at least 25,000 people present themselves as refugee claimants in Canada each year and that "those two boats represent about 300 people."

"We don't know if we are dealing with refugees at this time. We have a refugee determination procedure. We are hoping that that process will be expedited. If people are legitimate, genuine refugees, I know Canadians will welcome them. If they are not, then deportation orders will be issued," she said.

Jean Chretien, the Prime Minister, refused to comment on the latest arrival of migrants trying to illegally enter Canada. "The minister of immigration is handling this problem," he said.

RELATED SITES:

(Each link opens a new window)

Citizenship and Immigration Canada

The brand-new white paper on immigration policy

Statistics Canada: Immigration and Citizenship

Statistics from the 1996 national census that look at where Canadians came from.