WINNIPEG– The Conservative government’s Bill C-31 deeply politicizes our refugee system, said Liberal Citizenship and Immigration critic Kevin Lamoureux today.
“Under the Conservatives, the Government of Canada has ripped away our welcome mat to the world,” said Mr. Lamoureux. “Our refugee system has been built on fairness and humanitarian compassion, but these new changes will remove all accountability and recourse to claimants by making the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration the sole decision-maker on which countries are deemed ‘safe countr[ies]-of-origin.’”
Currently, refugee claims are determined by an independent body and individual circumstances are taken into consideration. Unfortunately, the Harper Conservatives have increasingly politicized the independent Immigration and Refugee Board by stacking it with Conservative members.
“The Conservatives claim to know even before a person arrives on our shores whether or not they are a legitimate refugee, or in their words, ‘bogus,’” continued Mr. Lamoureux. “Not only is this impossible, but it is fundamentally unjust. In reality, this bill is about giving one person in the country the power to choose who can claim refugee status and who cannot.”
Bill C-31 also includes what was formerly Bill C-4, a draconian and backwards piece of legislation that purports to deal with human smuggling, but instead targets legitimate refugee claimants and not the real criminals: the human smugglers themselves.
“Liberals want a more effective refugee system, but like all Canadians, we also want it to be fair. That fairness cannot be assured when all the power rests with one person alone,” concluded Mr. Lamoureux.
