Tamil Refugees Abusing the System

(Aired on August 31, 2010)

The case of the MV Sun Sea has proven once again that our immigration policies are in bad need of reform. We have a group of almost 500 people seeking refuge in Canada, making what may or may not be a claim of persecution in their homeland and wishing to be taken into Canada. But there's far too much of this going on and we need to tighten the regulations.

In this case, Border Services themselves seem to have screwed up the process as much as anyone. When the people arrived, they took all their ID and put them into containers. Now they have a problem trying to sort out who's who. That was a huge mistake. Right now, they can't even identify the captain and crew. We will spend millions trying to determine if these people are legitimate refugees. How many of them are terrorists in disguise?

Accepting people in this way is wrong. And while it may seem unsympathetic, how many legitimate refugees will be turned away while we are processing this group we should never have accepted. If getting into Canada is as simple as saying you'll be persecuted in your own country, we'll open the doors to so many poor choices it will cost us terribly down the road.

Immigration into a country should be an opportunity to start fresh, to bring something new to a country that needs immigrants. But the process should not be as messy as it is with the MV Sun Sea. We will probably never know how many of these people are legitimate and how many aren't. It's not the right way to deal with immigrants to our country.

To have 500 people show up on your doorstep all claiming refugee status is an abuse of the system, and just shouldn't be tolerated. Immigration is a good thing for our country. We need immigrants. But we need legitimate immigrants, who follow the procedure and don't try to play on Canadians' good moral sense to get in.

Sri Lankan Refugees Should be Processed, Welcomed

(Aired on August 13, 2010)

"Turn them around."  That's what some people are saying about the 490-or-so Tamils who arrived on our shores this week.  "You can't just show up in a ship and expect to be welcomed in Canada."

Well, it's a little more complicated than that.  In fact, you can just show up and expect to be welcomed - that's what being a refugee is all about.  A lot of Tamils are interested in getting out of Sri Lanka, especially since the end of the country's civil war last year.  The Tamil people are the minority, many of them are displaced within the country, and more claim they are oppressed by the majority ethnic group.

Whether or not they have legitimate refugee claims will have to be decided on a case-by-case basis.  As in most refugee cases, this won't be easy, and it is complicated by the fact that the Tamil Tigers are recognized as a terrorist organization by our government.  Each of the refugee claimants will have to be individually checked.

It's a sign of the times that the government is being so careful with the Tamil ship docked at CFB Esquimalt.  Not that it shouldn't be careful - it absolutely should.  But there was a time when security wasn't the number one concern.  There was a time when we would simply be proud that we have created a country that is the first one to come to mind for people throughout the world when they are in trouble.  It's like being the most reliable one in your group of friends.  It may be a lot of work, but it's pretty gratifying.

Reputable sources say Canada is home to the most Tamils in the world, outside of Sri Lanka itself.  Our multi-culturalism should still be a point of pride, and something we encourage and strongly protect - almost as strongly as we protect our borders.