The Harper government’s incompetent handling of sudden new Mexican and Czech visa requirements has turned an immigration issue into a foreign relations crisis with serious consequences for the Canadian economy, Liberal MPs said today.
“Minister Kenney’s ham-fisted decision to slap visa restrictions on Mexican and Czech citizens was done with no consultation or warning to these friendly countries and without any consideration for the economic impact it would have on Canada,” said Liberal Citizenship and Immigration Critic Maurizio Bevilacqua. “In light of the uproar he has caused, Prime Minister Harper must review his minister’s bungled implementation of this decision.”
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s announcement came as a shock to Mexico and the Czech Republic. Czech authorities have responded by recalling their Ambassador and slapping their own visa restrictions on Canadian diplomats. Now the Swedish Presidency of the European Union is threatening to impose visa restrictions on all Canadian travel to Europe in retaliation.
“This decision was made without any thought to increasing the capacity of consular services in advance, at the cost of shutting out thousands of legitimate visitors,” said Liberal Critic for Consular Affairs Dan McTeague. “Millions will be lost in revenue for Canadian tour operators, hotels and restaurants at a time when Canadian tourism is seeing its worst slump in decades.”
Approximately 266,000 Mexican tourists visited Canada last year, bringing $265 million in economic benefits to the country. The Canadian embassy has only one consular section in Mexico City and has no consular section in Prague to issue visas, requiring Czech residents who are planning to visit Canada to travel to Vienna in order to obtain a travel visa. Czechs made 15,000 visits to Canada last year.
“This latest diplomatic misstep can only harm Canada-EU free trade negotiations and the upcoming Security and Prosperity summit with our NAFTA partners,” said Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic Bob Rae. “It’s just another example of how the Conservatives are ruining our trade relationships, costing Canadian jobs, and further eroding our international reputation.”
Minister Kenney’s announcement coincided with the news that Prime Minister Harper will meet US President Barack Obama and Mexican President Filipe Calderon in Mexico in August. He is now responding to the outcry from his mishandling of this decision by musing publicly about an overhaul to Canada’s refugee system.
“Minister Kenney has so badly undermined Canada’s refugee determination system that Canada’s humanitarian reputation is now at risk,” concluded Mr. Bevilacqua. “Canadians took pride that our country offered a safe haven to so many who were victims of fear, discrimination and persecution in their home countries. We fear that Minister Kenney will use the outcry from his bungling of the file to justify a further erosion of Canada’s international reputation.”
