[. . . . ] The immigration community is suspicious that there's more going on here than cheap stripper politics and media fun. They see the bureaucratic leaks and comments as an attempt to derail a minister who had plans to shake up the immigration bureaucracy. One of her plans is to reverse a 2002 bureaucratic decision that suddenly prevented spouses of Canadian citizens from staying in Canada while their landed-immigrant status was being approved. For 20 years before 2002, married people could get their spouses approved almost automatically on humanitarian grounds. Now, special ministerial permits are needed, which is what Ms. Sgro gave the woman who sparked the current crisis. (See Michael Greene's piece below for more detail.)
Ms. Sgro had other policy plans that ran afoul of current bureaucratic thinking. She publicly said she intended to look at an amnesty program for up to 200,000 illegal immigrants now in Canada. "Every time you talk about amnesty, everyone gets all uptight about it," she said in an interview last month. How right she was.
On this and other immigration policies, Ms. Sgro appeared to be on the right track. She should stay and be allowed to get on with the job. [. . . . ]
The article to which Corcoran refers follows.
Peeling the layers off the 'Strippergate' scandal subscriber only content -- from an immigration 'stakeholder' -- i.e. He makes his living from the system.
"Strippergate" is more than a tempest in a teapot. It highlights a growing problem in the delivery of Canada's immigration program. The media coverage and political partisanship has obscured the real story -- a genuine Canadian family (one spouse happens to be a stripper) that didn't wish to be separated on a mere technicality. The real problem isn't work permits for strippers, and it isn't giving ministerial permits to political supporters. While both of those issues are worthy of debate, we have a bigger problem on our hands: We have an immigration program that has lost its capacity to be kind. [. . . . ]
"Michael Greene is a Calgary immigration lawyer and the former chair of the Canadian Bar Association's national citizenship and immigration section."
Why should the rest of us take his views seriously?
As a 'stakeholder' in the immigration system, . . . . . . . oh, for goodness sake, would someone please send this man some articles on what these Romanian strippers are--allegedly--and a few articles on how women are abused as prostitutes. Mr. Greene seems to believe that in the Balaican story it was love. Perhaps, but there is usually a darker story. I met a young woman lately who told me quite frankly of marrying an older man to get to the West; naturally, she is not married to him now. Love is a Western idea, I would hazard a guess.
Also, there was an excellent documentary on TV within the last month or so, possibly on CBC, detailing how women from Russian satellite states are trapped into prostitution and the degradation they suffer all along the route to the West; now there is real abuse of women by unscrupulous and evil men. They are promised work as dancers--lied to--and it proceeds from there.
First, we need to close the doors, correct the problems, then proceed with the orderly entry of those who would make good Canadians; we do not need to speed up entry of more people simply because the system is overloaded. The system is broken badly and it needs to be re-thought.
What makes a Canadian? What traditions are most likely to fit in here and benefit Canada, as well as the individuals? Which traditions bring crime and the attendant problems? No, one cannot look at each individual at a border post and decide -- in the time allotted to an IRB member pushed by the 'stakeholders', nor can Canadians look to the UN for guidance. Really, should we? Canadians' experience should mean something in making decisions.
We must look at the countries from which these people emanate and decide whether it is worth the risk for the rest of Canadians. Our human rights to be free of crime, terror and barbaric practices trump their human rights at the border -- in my humble opinion. What follows is an example of what I do not want coming to Canada.
Don't tell me I'm penalizing the victims, the women. I have known enough women who perpetuate barbarities against women.
Iran: Authorities stay execution by stoning -- Do you want this tradition coming to Canada?
TEHRAN - Iranian authorities have temporarily stayed the execution by stoning of a woman convicted of adultery while her case is studied by the judiciary pardons commission. [. . . . ]
Isn't that a relief? The men will cogitate. She might be beheaded by an imam, as others have been, instead?
Government 'pimping for underworld' -- Opposition seeks probe: Chretien's ministers ignored warnings of forced prostitution
OTTAWA - The opposition parties accused the government yesterday of "pimping for the underworld" and called for a judicial inquiry to determine why foreign strippers were trafficked into Canada for the "illegal sex trade" under a federal labour-mobility program.
[. . . . ] Former Human Resources minister Pierre Pettigrew, now the Minister of Foreign Affairs, approved the program change in 1998 despite warnings about the involvement of organized crime.
Senior officials in other departments said the nude dancers were "being misled, exploited and trafficked to support illegal sex trade activities in Canada," but Mr. Pettigrew and his successors didn't cancel the special exemption. [. . . . ]
Pettigrew, again! Think HRDC, his department pre-Jane Stewart. He slithers through everything, it seems.
Refugee claimants hit border -- There they make appointments to return for processing before the new rules about safe third countries kicks in.
More than 300 refugee claimants massed at a border crossing at Fort Erie, Ont., yesterday as a deadline neared that will see Canada shut its doors to asylum seekers from foreign countries attempting to enter this country via the United States. [. . . . ]
"These people have not been admitted to Canada, but because we have reached our processing capacity, we are taking some basic information and booking appointments for some time in the future," he said, adding the claimants are being sent back to the United States and told to return to the border crossing at the date of their CIC meeting.
"The biggest problem is how to deal with the numbers of people who are [at the crossing] now," Mr. Kellam said. "Making sure they are warm, that kind of thing."
They chose to come; why should Canadians . . . . . . . I know, bah! humbug! I am Scrooge about our wonderful 'refugee' system.
Police debunk notion teen killers on rise -- 'The bigger danger group are people between 18 and 25' -- but read the rest
[. . . . ] "I think the bigger danger group are the people between 18 and 25. Those are the people more likely to put themselves in situations where they become involved, whether they're at clubs or involved in drug dealing or gangs," he said.
Police say they have solved 30 of the 61 murders committed so far in 2004. (There were 60 murders in Toronto all of last year; 61 in 2002 and 61 in 2001.) Det.-Insp. McGuire believes more will be resolved by year's end, noting 11 of them occurred in the last month.
[. . . . ] He said investigations take longer because detectives now need to fill out copious amounts of paperwork due to new DNA laws and other legislation before executing search warrants. In addition, homicide officers attend the court appearances of suspects they've arrested, which can take many weeks. Approximately seven of the homicide squad's 34 officers are currently tied up in court.
"When a trial lasts six or eight months, I lose investigators for six or eight months. And we can have six or seven trials going on at the same time," Det.-Insp. McGuire said. "A couple of my people have been in court the entire year. They haven't investigated one murder." [. . . . ]
Top U.S. drug-addiction research warns against decriminalizing marijuana
VANCOUVER (CP) - A top American clinical researcher in the field of drug addiction warned Tuesday that decriminalizing marijuana could lead to increased abuse of the drug.
Studies show wider availability of a drug coupled with a relaxed attitude towards it help predict the level of use and addiction, said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Volkow said surveys indicate that if a drug is considered safe and benign, its use spirals. Drug addiction rates can range from 20 to 30 per cent of users. [It looks as though we must be saved from ourselves by unavailability. Poverty keeps so many out of alcoholism--or is it high government prices? It amounts to the same.]
"The notion of legalizing and making drugs accessible, what it will do is ultimately increase the number of people that get exposed to the drug," Volkow said in an interview.
"Some of those people will become addicted that may have not become addicted had it not been so easily accessible."
The best examples, she said, are alcohol and tobacco, both widely available and relatively acceptable socially and with the most widespread addiction rates. [. . . . ]
But some studies have tied its use to a rise in psychotic episodes and schizophrenia. [. . . . ]
Obviously, more research is needed. Our government would not likely pay much attention to nay-sayers, however. Decriminalizing would be a vote-getter with some and that is all that matters to this government. Mustn't turn off any voting bloc--except Christians and red-necks--people like me and the people I admire, people who see a slippery slope, the thin edge of the wedge, as we saw with gambling and just legalizing a few machines.
Thought for the Season -- Government Priorities
One wonders why the government was able to find $1.5 billion to renovate Parliament, $1.5 billion for the gun registry, but couldn't find the money to keep 9 detachments open in Quebec along with other significant manpower and resource shortfalls?
