Prime Minister Stephen Harper: Human Smugglers

Economic Migrants Dept: That s the question Parliament must ask as it studies Prime Minister Stephen Harper s tough new crackdown on human smuggling. The Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada s Immigration System Act that Public Safety Minister Vic Toews unveiled Thursday warrants critical study before it is rushed into law, according to The Star. The vast majority of refugee claimants arrive in Canada by air or by land. The few who arrive by sea, as did the Sun Sea migrants from Sri Lanka, would face far harsher treatment under the bill and while Canadians aren t thrilled to see boatloads of people including both economic migrants and genuine refugees turning up here seeking asylum, as 492 Tamils from Sri Lanka did this summer, does Ottawa need to slap them in jail for a year, deny them permanent residency and cut their health coverage to tell the world that we won t be played for patsies? In effect, the bill would create a less worthy category of refugee people whom Canada s public safety minister deems to have arrived in a human smuggling event. They would pay a heavy price for it. As reported in the news.
@t vic toews, refugee claimants