Prime Minister Stephen Harper: Asylum Seekers

Human Smuggling Dept: "Let me be clear. We are a land of refuge, but at the same time, I think Canadians are pretty concerned when a whole boat of people comes -- not through any normal application process, not through any normal arrival channel -- and just simply lands," Harper said at an event in Mississauga, Ont, according to Montreal Gazette. It was the first time the prime minister had spoken on the issue of human-smuggling and seaborne asylum-seekers since the arrival in British Columbia last week of the MV Sun Sea -- a Thai cargo ship that carried about 492 Tamils from Sri Lanka who are seeking refugee status in Canada and ottawa "will not hesitate to strengthen the laws" in order to tackle the "trend" of would-be refugees arriving in Canada via people-smuggling ships, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said yesterday. "We will not hesitate to strengthen the laws if we have to because ultimately -- as a government, as a fundamental exercise of our sovereignty -- we are responsible for the security of our borders." As reported in the news.
@t refugee status, montreal gazette