Jason Priestley Drug Abuse: an Open Letter to Minister Jason Kenney

Dear Minister Kenney:

Since you became Canada’s immigration minister in 2008 you have often promised to devise an immigration system that would prevent queue jumpers from abusing the integrity of our immigration system and the generosity of Canadians.

You admonished those who came to Canada under false pretenses and urged them to “wait their turn like everyone else”.

As an immigration lawyer, I represent hundreds, if not thousands, of families who believed in these values and in doing the right thing.

These people hail from many countries, speak many languages, and have considerable professional experience. They can easily contribute to Canada’s economy, society, and tax base.

These people came to my firm in good faith to have their professional qualifications and language skills assessed so that we could advise them as to their chances for successful immigration to Canada. These people researched Canada thoroughly to ensure that it was the best fit for them. Some had the chance to go to other countries such as the United States, New Zealand, and Australia but chose us. Many spent thousands of dollars to make exploratory visits to Canada and thousands more to hire professional firms to help them migrate here.

We told them to be patient as the lines were long. We assured them that they would eventually make it to the top of the line and that, when they did, their chances of success would be good since we thoroughly reviewed their qualifications prior to submitting their applications.

Many waited patiently even after the processing times promised by your staff at the Canadian embassies and consulates grew longer and longer.

They continued to trust us (meaning, you, me, the Canadian people, and the Canadian government) even after you created new skilled worker categories and processed applications made under those categories before the ones that were already in the queue.

Many of these clients have now put their lives on hold for 5, 6, 7, 8 and more years while waiting patiently in line. Many delayed buying homes, changing jobs, getting married, etc in their own countries as they were planning to come here after their applications were finalized.

You can imagine what a horrible and terrible shock it must have been for them to hear you tell reporters last week that “All the applications in the skilled worker category that we received prior to February 28, 2007 will be returned”.

In other words, even though they followed the rules that we Canadians set out for them, we are now telling them that it was all for nothing. This proposal would amount to a huge breach of trust.

The only consolation that is being offered to them is a refund of their processing fees.

This startling and unprecedented announcement will affect 112,000 or so applicants and their dependents….about 300,000 people in total. This is the equivalent of the entire town of Markham, the City of Vaughan, or the ville of Gatineau.

Many of these people will not trust us again and will not re-apply. I wouldn’t blame them. Others will want to try again but won’t because their children are now over-aged and will no longer be able to accompany them.

Minister Kenney, you have often spoken of attracting to Canada “the best and the brightest”. In fact, you were recently quoted saying “We want the next Bill Gates or the next Steve Jobs. We want those folks with the brilliant ideas that are going to generate sustainable jobs for a long time to come.”

Minister Kenney, to attract the likes of Messrs. Gates and Jobs we will have to work much, much harder to offer an immigration system that is seen as fast, fair, and predictable. The “best and the brightest” will learn from this development and will simply not take the risk.

I am sure you have consulted with the lawyers at the Department of Justice to see if the legislation you intend to pass to permit this action will withstand judicial scrutiny. I’m sure that since your announcement, class action lawyers have already started gearing up for the inevitable lawsuits that this rule-change will trigger. I suspect that there is a reasonable chance that these litigants will find some sympathetic judges in our Federal Court. I hope that Canadian taxpayers will not have to shoulder much more of a financial burden than the $ 130 million you plan on refunding to these frustrated souls.

Whether such litigation is won or lost, we Canadians will shoulder the moral blame for unnecessarily holding these people up for years before sending them away.

I am sure that you must be frustrated by the fact that there are now more people awaiting a decision on their applications for permanent residence than there were when you took on the immigration portfolio. However, the answer to this problem cannot simply be to dump these applications in the garbage. These people deserve more from us, and I hope Canadians will expect more from themselves.

Perhaps, we just need to roll up our sleeves, hire some more staff, and earn the processing fees which we accepted from these patient and law-abiding folks. I am certain that most fair-minded people would agree.

It is trite to say that Canada is a country of immigrants. Accordingly, we should not be treating so shabbily the ones who applied exactly as we expected. It is simply not the Canadian way.

I hope you will reconsider.

Respectfully yours
 Guidy Mamann,

 

Lost River Phoenix movie to be screened at Whistler Film Festival
The festival, which runs Dec. 4 to 8, opens with the Jason Priestley-directed road movie Cas & Dylan, starring Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany and Richard Dreyfuss. Priestly and Dreyfuss will attend the fest, said Whistler director of programming Paul … Read more on Toronto Star

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