Janet Hinshaw-Thomas: Hinshaw-Thomas

Janet Hinshaw-Thomas Dept: One can see why authorities decided to charge Hinshaw-Thomas, since Section 117 of the IRPA states: "No person shall knowingly organize, induce, aid or abet the coming into Canada of one or more persons who are not in possession of a visa, passport or other document required by this Act.", according to Vancouver Sun. The decision to charge Hinshaw-Thomas provoked an intense backlash, with three former federal attorneys-general and three former ministers of immigration penning a letter which read, in part: "The arrest of Janet Hinshaw-Thomas ... telegraphs the deeply disturbing message that it is now illegal to assist asylum seekers to ask Canada for protection from persecution. This message is inimical to achievement of the IRPA's objectives of fulfilling 'Canada's international legal obligations with respect to refugees' .. and in September 2007, American humanitarian aid worker Janet Hinshaw-Thomas accompanied 12 refugee-seeking Haitians to the Quebec border. For her trouble, she was promptly arrested and charged with human smuggling under Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Hinshaw-Thomas's conduct therefore seemed in violation of the law. Yet her conduct also seemed to fall outside behaviour the law is aimed at preventing - that is, the smuggling of people for financial gain, for terrorism, or for some other nefarious purpose. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.