Human Trafficking Dept: Toews, in announcing an anti-trafficking program modelled after Crime Stoppers, acknowledged that smuggling -- facilitating the illegal movement of people across international borders -- can sometimes become trafficking, which is defined as the exploitation of migrants who cannot pay the usurious fees they are charged. Toews' "Blue Blindfold" campaign calls on Canadians to report suspicious activity, such as migrants who are forced into the sex trade to pay off debts, according to Calgary Herald. Both initiatives come in the wake of last month's arrival of the MK sun Sea, a ship carrying hundreds of Tamil migrants. The going rate commanded by smugglers is about $50,000 per head for their Asian clients, a figure leading to the assumption that only the wealthy can afford it. This is hardly the case. Smugglers, whether they be Mexican "coyotes" or Asian "snakeheads," often operate on convenient instalment plans. Those who miss payments risk having loved ones back home being raped, tortured or killed. Or, they can be threatened directly and o n Tuesday, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews drew a distinction between human smuggling and human trafficking. The impression he left was that smuggling is the lesser of the evils. Whether someone is involved in human smuggling or human trafficking to us seems irrelevant. When human beings are treated as commodities, those involved should be dealt with harshly, which is why we prefer the less-muddied suggestion made by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney that there be mandatory minimum jail sentences for human smugglers. As reported in the news.
@t vic toews, calgary herald

Jason Kenney Dept: Having exhausted all legal recourse, Gloria Patricia Uribe's lawyer yesterday asked Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to grant her and her daughters, ages 2 and 10, a temporary residency permit. A reporter's call to Kenney's office in Ottawa was not returned, according to Montreal Gazette. Ifaza refused to turn over half his profits to them and later killed a paramilitary in self-defence as a group attacked him. His son Luis later killed another paramilitary member, also in self-defence and weeping and holding the younger of her two children in her arms, a failed Colombian refugee claimant has appealed to the Canadian government for asylum based on her fear of retribution should she be deported. Uribe's fear arises from a conflict between paramilitary forces and her family that began after Uribe began living with her uncle Luis Alfonso Ifaza in 1999 on his cattle farm near Medellin. As reported in the news.
@t cattle farm, immigration minister

Human Trafficking Dept: "I don't want to talk too much about an operational issue," he told reporters. But he added that the arrival last month of 492 Tamil migrants aboard the MV Sun Sea was "seen as a bit of a test ship" and that there is "certainly a possibility of other ships coming to Canada.", according to Montreal Gazette. Yesterday, the government announced it was partnering with the RCMP and Crime Stoppers to raise awareness of human trafficking and to educate the public on how to report suspicious cases and public Safety Minister Vic Toews said yesterday there is a "possibility" that other migrant ships could be destined for Canada. Toews made his remarks as the government continued to ramp up the rhetoric in its bid to combat the illegal movement of people across international borders. As reported in the news.
@t montreal gazette, international borders

Political Fundraisers Dept: It's the second time in four months that Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson has asked the government to take a closer look at the issue, according to CTV. The invitees included executives with the Canadian Football League, the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada, and the Association of Canadian Distillers and oTTAWA — The House of Commons ethics watchdog urged the Conservative government on Tuesday to toughen its rules on political fundraisers following her latest investigation of a Tory MP's dealings with lobbyists. Dawson cleared Ontario MP Rick Dykstra of any wrongdoing after he personally invited lobbyists to a fundraiser at a Blue Jays game last year, promising that ministers and baseball alumni would also be there. As reported in the news.
@t rick dykstra, canadian distillers

Illegal Immigrant Dept: “ All it takes is to know one person’s story. ”, according to Globe And Mail. Dirt was first performed in the United States in 2003 in an academic setting, and has been performed publicly since 2007 in New York and Europe. It will have its Canadian premiere at the Vancouver International Fringe Festival on Sept. 9, and will mark its 100th performance on Sept. 11 and sad is an illegal immigrant from Iraq who sells roses on the street. He is lonely. Money is scarce. His roommate has defaulted on the electricity bill. The people to whom Sad tries to sell his roses treat him with utter disdain. And their disgust has had an impact on Sad: He feels intense hatred not just for his potential customers, but for himself. As reported in the news.
@t intense hatred, electricity bill

Human Smuggling Dept: Canada is one of the largest destination countries for Asian immigration, and a personal visit by the minister responsible will help focus the energies of the source countries on fighting fraud, according to Globe And Mail. When it comes to human smuggling, there is more work to do. Although Mr. Kenney is not visiting Thailand, a key transit point for human smuggling of Tamils from Sri Lanka, he can raise the need for more information sharing and regional security co-operation with the Indians and Chinese and source countries for migrants may feel they have less of an immediate stake in the issue. But immigration fraudsters dupe their own citizens, and work in networks that may branch into other areas of crime. For immigrants, scams and crimes are broken promises that lead to broken homes and a burden of debt owed to middlemen. For Canada, that often means the entry of the wrong people into the country, while others Canada would prefer are forced to wait, or never get their chance to come. But the trip is also needed because Canada needs to demonstrate resolve at home to stop immigration-related crimes. Current reforms, including the additional “safe country” designation as part of the refugee determination process, and pending changes to the immigration consultant and live-in caregiver regimes, go some way. As reported in the news.
@t asian immigration, immigration consultant

Conservative Mp Dept: In a report today, Dawson also said the government should prohibit personal fundraising solicitations by Members of Parliament who are also cabinet ministers or parliamentary secretaries, the MPs who function as assistants to ministers, according to The Star. Dawson looked into the event under two separate conflict-of-interest codes one of which applies to MPs and the other for cabinet ministers and other so-called public office holders and oTTAWA Federal ethics watchdog Mary Dawson is cautioning Conservative MP Rick Dykstra over potential conflicts of interest arising from a fundraising event in a plush Rogers Centre suite. Dykstra, who is the MP for St. Catharines riding and parliamentary secretary for immigration, was under investigation for alleged conflict of interest over a fundraiser for the St. Catharines Electoral District Association held in the owner s suite at Rogers Centre last year. As reported in the news.
@t parliamentary secretaries, rogers centre

Sun Sea Dept: Public Safety Minister Vic Toews says law enforcement officials need Canadians to be aware of the signs of human trafficking. The announcement Tuesday by Public Safety Minister Vic Toews comes in the wake of last month's arrival of the MK Sun Sea, a ship carrying hundreds of Tamil migrants, in British Columbia, according to CBC. While Toews acknowledged the Sun Sea was a case of human smuggling, not trafficking, he noted that smuggling sometimes turns to trafficking if those being transported are unable to make payment and the federal government is partnering with Crime Stoppers to enlist the Canadian public's help in detecting and reporting signs of potential human trafficking. Toews said that by exposing the reality of the "disturbing" crime of human trafficking, the "Blue Blindfold" campaign will give Canadians a better understanding of how to detect it and report suspicious activity. As reported in the news.
@t human trafficking, human smuggling

Daughter Michelle Dept: Gloria Uribe has to report to Montreal's Trudeau International Airport at 8 a.m. Thursday, and will fly to her native country with her two children, aged 10 and 2, according to CBC. Only Uribe and her eldest daughter were ordered deported. Sarah was officially allowed to stay because she is a Canadian citizen, but Uribe said she could not leave her daughter behind and supporters of a Colombian native who has been ordered deported from Canada are calling on the government to allow her to stay. The Colombia native has been living in Montreal since 2007, when she filed a claim for refugee status. Her daughter Michelle, 10, was born in the United States where Uribe was living illegally at the time, while her youngest child, 2-year-old Sarah was born in Canada. As reported in the news.
@t refugee status, canadian citizen

Allos Dept: Saint-Laurent is one of the most polyglot ridings in Quebec - 51 per cent allophone, 16.5 per cent anglophone, and 32 per cent francophone, according to the 2006 census. At least 13 different languages have 1,000 or more speakers in the riding, according to Montreal Gazette. That's happening here, and this time extra salt is being rubbed into the wound. Fournier, hoping to make a comeback to the National Assembly, was the minister who rammed the Liberals' rigged demerger bill down the throat of suburbanites across the province in 2004 and the candidate himself, and the party he supports, both richly deserve to be repudiated by allophone and anglophone voters there. During the Charest years, non-francophones have become all too accustomed to abuse from the Liberals. We are the party's most loyal supporters, but anglophone and allophone representation in the cabinet has dwindled to two inexperienced ministers, one of them just demoted. Liberal safe seats, made safe by anglos and allos, are routinely bestowed from on high upon francophone "star" candidates from elsewhere. As reported in the news.
@t loyal supporters, anglos