Would she no agree with me that there is a question of priorities here? The government is presenting the bill before the House when there are so many other problems that exist. The underemployment of new Canadians costs us $5.9 billion a year in losses because of their underemployment. We have hollowed out our foreign engagement, eliminating culture as a pillar of foreign policy, and we do not meet them on their soil anymore. We have hollowed out the system to integrate professional new Canadians. Now, we have hollowed out Canadians’ trust in new Canadians.

Would the member not agree that perhaps the government’s priorities are misplaced? Even though we are supporting the bill at second reading, and we hope she will join us in order to improve the bill at committee, does she not see a question of priorities?

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, with not just some but a lot of concern and mixed feelings, I will support sending the bill to committee. However, as I am not a member of that committee, I reserve the right I have as the member representing the Green Party and Saanich—Gulf Islands to submit amendments at report stage if I am not satisfied that the bill has been re-balanced appropriately to reflect the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and respect for it.

The member’s question about war criminals is a good one. It sounds pretty much like a no-brainer. If someone is a war criminal, we do not want the person in Canada, nor do we want people who have defied their government, committed crimes and spent time in jail. However, every now and then a person like that gets honorary Canadian citizenship, like Nelson Mandela.

The move under this proposed legislation and other legislation, such as the mandatory minimums under Bill C-10, is toward an authoritarian automatic discipline, which is unforgiving forever and lacks any compassion, humanitarian or even a thought process. That I will always oppose.

The post Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act (Bill C-43) appeared first on Elizabeth May.

On Tuesday (March 13^th), Minister Kenney made an appearance at the committee to thank the members for their study of how to eliminate the current backlog of applications in the immigration system and to outline his department’s focus for the upcoming fiscal year including the introduction of biometrics in processing all visa applications, the need to prevent inadmissible individuals from entering Canada, and most importantly, the need for Canada to find talented individuals who will be able to integrate into the labour market to offset the shortage created by our aging population.

On Thursday (March 15^th), the committee heard testimony from health experts on the potential risks immigrants pose to public health in Canada and whether the medical screening currently required by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration are meeting the intended objectives. The committee then heard testimony from the World Sikh Organization of Canada on the problematic admission of war criminals into Canada due to international political and diplomatic pressures as well as the importance of avoiding racial and religious profiling in Canada’s new security measures. Lastly, the committee heard testimony from the Centre of Excellence in Security, Resilience, and Intelligence on the need to build a robust intelligence framework to support the use of biometrics and Canada’s current vulnerabilities in our weak domain/situational awareness.

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Dick Cheney spoke in Vancouver on Monday. George W. Bush is slated to visit  Canada on October 20 as a guest of the mayor of Surrey British  Columbia.  Human rights groups including Amnesty International and  Lawyers Against the War have said Canada has a duty to prevent Cheney  and Bush’s entry into Canada because of their record of sanctioning  torture methods.  Both domestic and international laws have been cited,  such as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the  Convention against Torture and other Cruel, inhuman or degrading  treatment or punishment (CAT), the Geneva Conventions, the Crimes  against Humanity and War Crimes Act (CAHWCA) and the Criminal Code of  Canada.  These groups claim Canada is providing safe haven from  prosecution by ignoring Bush and Cheney’s torture record and illegal war in Iraq.

Bush reportedly  cancelled a trip to Switzerland earlier this year because of the same  calls for his prosecution.  The International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN Committee on Torture have both reported their conclusions  that the US military engages in torture at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

“Canada took a lead in the global negotiations for an International Criminal  Court. Cheney and Bush represent a tough challenge for Canada as former  leaders of our closest neighbour and largest trading partner.  Nevertheless, we accepted legal obligations to pursue criminal actions.  Refusing George Galloway access to Canadian soil while welcoming Cheney  and Bush threatens to make a mockery of those obligations,” said May.

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