B.C. judge declares human smuggling law too broad

A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has taken the bluster out of the Conservative's campaign against illegal migrants by striking down a section of the law targeting human smuggling, putting at least two high-profile prosecutions in limbo.

In February 2011, Prime Minister Stephen Harper vowed to toughen asylum laws as he stood aboard one of the ships used to bring Tamil migrants to Canada in 2009 and 2010.

On human smuggling, Tories plan to make Canada less desirable

For the Conservative government, new legislation that will subject some refugee claimants to detention is about more than deterring human smuggling.

It’s also about persuading both Canadians and Americans that this country’s borders are secure.

The Conservative government reintroduced legislation Thursday that aims to discourage ships from arriving off Canada’s coasts crammed with migrants seeking asylum. The bill allows the immigration minister to designate such claimants as an “irregular arrival,” making them subject to detention for up to a year while their identity is verified and their claims processed.

The purpose of the legislation, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said in an interview, is to make Canada less desirable as a destination for migrants who sometimes pay tens of thousands of dollars to human smugglers to travel here on unsafe vessels, such as the roughly 500 who arrived on the Sun Sea and Ocean Lady in 2009 and 2010.

But it is also intended, he said, to assure the U.S. government that Canada is taking the steps necessary to control the border at a time when the two governments are negotiating new economic and security agreements.

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Source: Globe & Mail 

Tories revive controversial human-smuggling bill

OTTAWA—The Conservative government says it will use its new muscle in Parliament to pass a controversial bill to end “human smuggling.”

It revived a package to toughen sanctions against the ship owners and organizers of large-scale smuggling operations along with strict measures to deter or discourage their would-be “customers” — those seeking refuge in Canada.

The bill met widespread condemnation last fall from the opposition, faith groups, refugee advocates, and the Canadian Bar Association. Critics say they support increased penalties against smugglers, but argue the principal targets of the bill, as the bar association outlined, “are the refugee claimants themselves, whether genuine or not.”

The Canadian Council for Refugees said Thursday it will have “little or no deterrent effect.” Convicted large-scale smugglers already face penalties of up to life in prison and a $1 million fine. Rather, said spokesperson Janet Dench, it will punish the people fleeing persecution, including children. “It’s extraordinary.”

New Democrat public safety critic Don Davies said the bill breaches Charter and international legal protections against arbitrary detention, and guarantees of prompt review of detention. The NDP will propose amendments, but with the Conservative majority now, the government has enough votes to pass it in the Commons and Senate.

The Conservatives say the measures will pass constitutional muster, but Dench says no outside legal opinions support that claim, and notes the Supreme Court of Canada has already denounced long-term detention without review even for national security threats.

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Source: Toronto Star