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Victor,



 The enclosed will interest you.



Kind regards,



Kevin



Subject: toronto star comment

Date: Fri, Sep 17, 1999, 12:27 PM





The Toronto Star

Balance needed in immigration debate

Friday September 17, 1999



 A Chinese migrant, desperate for a new life, pledges $40,000 to a

Snakehead to take him to North America. He boards a decrepit ship, 

leaving

family and friends behind, and spends two miserable months  crossing

the

Pacific. If he is lucky, the vessel reaches Canada's  west coast.

 He is detained, interrogated and if he cannot show that he is  fleeing

persecution, ordered to return to China. A furor erupts in Canada about

queue-jumpers and lax immigration  laws.

 *****

 A wealthy investor in Hong Kong, seeking a more secure future, 

pledges to

invest $400,000 in Canada. He flies to Vancouver and  checks into a

five-star hotel.

 His application for permanent residency status is processed by 

pleasant

immigration officials.

 No one protests. No one questions the fairness of the system. Even 

when

he builds a monster home in a quiet Vancouver neighbourhood,  the

grumbles

are muted.

 *****

 There has been something cock-eyed about this summer's immigration 

debate.

 Canadians have demanded that Ottawa crack down hard on migrant boat

people, without asking why foreigners with deep pockets should be 

given

front-of-the-line treatment.

 Government critics have sounded the alarm each time a boatload of

migrants arrives, while ignoring the evidence of widespread fraud in 

the

immigrant-investor program.

 Both the smuggled migrant and the affluent investor are, in essence,

buying their way into North America.

 Both the would-be refugee from Fujian province and the monied 

newcomer

from Hong Kong are, knowingly or not, relying on criminals  to advance

their interests. The migrant puts his fate in the hands  of a smuggler.

The

foreign businessman puts his money into an  investment fund, managed by

dubious middlemen.

 If Canada wants to send out a message that its immigration rules are 

fair

and consistent, it cannot punish the 600 migrants who have  arrived by

boat

this summer, while ignoring the other flaws in the  system.

 Human smuggling is a serious international problem. The steps the

government is taking - sending RCMP officers to Fujian province, 

keeping

the migrants out of the clutches of the smugglers and meting  out tough

jail sentences to the crews of the smuggling ships - are  good.

 But this summer's influx needs to be kept in perspective:

 Every month, an average of 500 refugee claimants arrive at Pearson

Airport. They are no different from the Chinese boat people, except 

that

they are less visible and probably better-off.

 It is unlikely that even half of the Chinese migrants will be  allowed

to

stay. Every person who arrives in Canada seeking asylum  is allowed a

hearing. But the Immigration and Refugee Board rejects  56 per cent of

refugee claims.

 There is little danger of any of the Fujian migrants becoming a 

burden on

the country. They've risked their lives to come to North  America to

earn a

good living. Those who are accepted as refugees  will work extremely

hard.

 The impact of 600 Chinese boat people on life in Canada will be 

minimal.

By contrast, the impact of the more than 16,000 immigrant- investors

who

have settled in Canada since 1986 has been immense.  Wealthy investors

from

Hong Kong and Taiwan have changed the face of  Vancouver and bought up

most

of the choice real estate on the  Pacific coast.

 Those who are shouting loudest for a crackdown on illegal migrants 

might

want to ask themselves a couple of questions: Would they be  more

welcome

if they came with suitcases of money? Would Canada be  the kind of the

country it is today without boatloads of people who  came with little

or

nothing?

 It is true that Canada has a smuggling problem to solve. But it also 

has

some deeper issues to confront.

************************************