B.C. Supreme Court Judge Arne Silverman: Human Smuggling

Immigration And Refugee Protection Act Dept: In striking down section 117 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, B.C. Supreme Court Judge Arne Silverman was careful to say the ruling was not meant to attack the federal government's "legitimate goal" of targeting the problem of human smuggling. But the way the law is written has the potential to criminalize not just individuals who seek to exploit migrants but well-meaning family members and humanitarian workers, Silverman said, according to Vancouver Sun. A spokeswoman for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said the government is also reviewing the decision and canada's human-smuggling law is "unnecessarily broad" and should be returned to Parliament, a B.C. judge has ruled, throwing into question the trials of two groups accused of bringing hundreds of Tamil migrants to the West Coast in 2009 and 2010. Federal prosecutors are reviewing the ruling and will advise the court of its plans in a week, Sujata Raisinghani, a spokeswoman for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, said Monday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.