Immigration News: April, 2005 - Volume 12

Canada: Ministers, Integration

Immigration minister Judy Sgro resigned in January 2005 after Indian immigrant Harjit Singh alleged that she promised him asylum in Canada in exchange for pizza and campaign volunteers from his restaurants. Singh arrived in Canada in 1988 on a tourist visa and applied for asylum. His application was rejected, he appealed, his children were found to be refugees in 1994, and he won the right to stay on humanitarian grounds in 1996, but did not get an immigrant visa because of convictions in India and Canada for credit card fraud. Singh was deported in February 2005.

Sgro has filed a $750,000 defamation suit against Singh and others, and Singh is counter-suing Sgro for slander and libel. Earlier, Sgro was accused of promising a Romanian dancer an immigrant visa in exchange for her work on Sgro's re-election campaign.

The new immigration minister is Joe Volpe, who immediately rescinded a rule that required some spouses of immigrants to return to their countries of origin for immigrant visas. On February 18, 2005 Volpe told the House of Commons that "all spouses and common-law partners in Canada, regardless of their immigration status can apply for permanent residence from within Canada, rather than having to do so from outside the country." Some 2,600 spouses are affected.

The governing Liberal Party was floundering in Spring 2005, as a scandal over $100 million in payments to advertising firms to publicize federal activities in Quebec and counter separatist sentiment. It appears that some of the money was laundered back into Liberal Party coffers. In opinion polls, the Conservative Party led by Stephen Harper had the support of 36 percent of voters, compared to 25 percent for the governing Liberal Party led by Paul Martin.

Canadian immigration policy allows significant administrative discretion. Several families seeking to immigrate have been turned down because they have disabled children who could place "excessive demands" on social services. The government says that it is easy for prospective immigrants to promise to pay for services privately, but much harder to enforce private commitments once the family arrives in Canada.

US critics have sometimes accused Canada of being lax on potential terrorists. Algerian-born Ahmed Ressam arrived in Canada in 1994, applied for asylum and was rejected, and despite several arrests on charges of breaking into automobiles, was not deported because Canada stopped deporting Algerians in 1997. Ressam obtained a Canadian driver's license and passport under a false name with a forged baptismal certificate, and in December 1999 was caught attempting to enter the US from Canada with bomb-making materials that he allegedly planned to use at the Los Angeles International Airport. Ressam is scheduled to be sentenced in April 2005 to 27 years of prison in the US for the bombing attempt.

Integration. The labor force participation rates and earnings of immigrants are falling relative to Canadian-born men. In 1980, newly arrived immigrant men earned 80 percent as much as Canadian-born men, but the ratio fell to 60 percent by 1996. The employment rate fell as well- for immigrant men from 86 to 68 percent, while for Canadian-born men the drop was from 91 to 85 percent.

Statistics Canada released a study in February 2005 that found home ownership rates among immigrant families in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver have dropped significantly over the past 20 years.

Elizabeth Thompson, "Ottawa eases immigration rules to speed up reuniting of spouses," Montreal Gazette, February 2005. Michael Dentandt, "Immigration rules eased for spousal applicants," Globe and Mail, February 19, 2005. Kirk Makin, "Disabled immigrant cases reach top court," The Globe and Mail, February 7, 2005. Marina Jimenez and Katie Rook, "Protesting Singh deported," Globe and Mail, February 3, 2005.