Report from Parliament's Hill - June 5th, 2008

By Prince George - Peace River M.P. Jay Hill

Opposition Parties “Desert” the Principles of Canada’s Refugee System

While our Conservative Government is striving to fix our immigration system by implementing reforms that better meet the social and economic needs of Canada, and that ensure fairness to applicants, the opposition parties’ most significant, priority contribution to the problem is their attempt this week to throw open our immigration system to U.S. military deserters.

As I detailed in this column in April, our Conservative Government has introduced measures to help improve the immigration system and reduce the immigration backlog that ballooned from 50,000 to over 800,000 under Liberal governments.

The opposition parties oppose our efforts to align the immigration system so that it actually meets Canada’s labour market needs; supports family reunification; upholds Canada’s humanitarian commitments; and, ensures faster decisions.  According to the opposition, particularly the conspiracy theory-driven New Democratic Party, it’s all an evil plot to discriminate against certain groups and give special treatment to others.

Yet while making that baseless accusation, the NDP, the Liberals and the Bloc are preoccupied with creating a new program designed to give preferential priority standing to U.S. military deserters and their families by granting them permanent residence status.  They united to pass a motion to that effect this week.

The creation of a special program just for deserters is at odds with our Conservative Government’s belief that every applicant to Canada should be treated fairly and equally, and should be required to follow our laws and rules and apply through normal immigration or refugee channels.

Canada has a fair and internationally-respected refugee protection system that provides deserters with several recourses to make a refuge claim, including full rights of appeal.  The Immigration and Refugee Board, the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal have all ruled that the U.S. military deserters who have brought their cases forward do not need protection in Canada.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which has indicated Canada’s refugee protection system is a model for the rest of the world, says it must be considered whether a war resister was drafted or joined the army voluntarily.  

Yet opposition MPs attempt to compare U.S. military deserters today to draft dodgers during the Vietnam War.  There is no draft in the United States today.  Just like here in Canada, its citizens join the military with full knowledge of what to expect, including the possibility of going to war.  Before signing-up, recruits are fully aware they can be assigned to any mission, anywhere their commanders and their government may choose.

Still, a member of the U.S. military can challenge the system through a variety of means available to them in their democratic nation.  But they can do it in their own country using their own legal system … they certainly don’t require ‘defacto refugee status’ here in Canada!

Canada’s refugee protection system is designed to protect those who genuinely fear persecution, the threat of torture, and in certain cases, death.  We must not undermine the integrity and widespread international respect for that system by succumbing to a crass attempt by the opposition parties to ferment anti-American and anti-military sentiments in order to serve their own political agenda.

Email | Print | Facebook | Twitter | Digg | Del.icio.us