Number 84 - September, 1996

Sixty Per Cent Oppose High Immigration Levels

"Almost six Canadians in 10 express at least some reservations about the number of immigrants to Canada, a poll for the federal immigration department indicates." (Toronto Star, August 19, 1996) Interestingly, the Star had to winkle this taxpayer-funded poll out of the government through an Access to Information Act request. "Forty-six per cent of respondents said there are too many immigrants coming to Canada. ... Forty-two per cent said immigration levels are about right, ... but some respondents who initially said the number of immigrants is about right subsequently said there may be a little too many." "This suggests that ... concerns about the level of immigration may be (and have been, in earlier surveys) more widespread than one would think in light of responses to the initial question," said a memo to the minister. The Angus-Reid poll found Canadians resistant to a number of other attitudes fostered by the immigration industry. Fifty-four per cent said immigration increases unemployment, while 29 per cent said it has no effect, and 15 per cent think it reduces unemployment. So much for people buying the government "immigrants-create-jobs" party line! "Six out of 10 said children born to those moving permanently to another country should not automatically be given Canadian citizenship. Support for that view rises to 80 per cent when it comes to grandchildren. Sixty-three per cent rejected granting citizenship automatically to any child born on Canadian soil, regardless of whether their parents are Canadian."

Somali Illegal Gets $75,000 Heart

Taxpaying Canadians, especially those who have been here for generations, have every right to wonder just whom this country is supposed to benefit. Case in point: "The case of a bogus refugee claimant who received a $75,000 heart transplant has triggered a debate over when humanitarianism should supersede the law. Mohamud Salah, a 27-year-old Somali, had the transplant August 2 at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Hospital officers approved the operation even though immigration officers had ordered Salah deported for fraudulently entering the country after being kicked out once before. Now, it's not clear who will pay the bill. Immigration officials were concerned about public reaction to a rejected refugee claimant receiving an expensive operation from Canada's overburdened health-care system. ... Salah entered Canada from Somalia in 1990 and applied for refugee status in Montreal. The application was denied and he was ordered deported, leaving for the U.S. in July, 1993. Immigration records show he returned two months later and made a second, successful refugee claim under an assumed name. His status was later revoked over his scam. Further appeals failed, leading to an arrest warrant being issued June 3. ... Salah still has the option of applying to stay, on humanitarian grounds." (Vancouver Province, August 23, 1996) The folly of not incarcerating illegals immediately they apply here is proven by this story. As for "humanitarian grounds", are there any such grounds of appeal for a Canadian who might have died because the illegal Somali got the heart transplant that could have saved his life?

CRIME WATCH

Over 1,500 Criminals Granted Special Minister's Entry Permits Last Year

Even if Canada's notoriously porous immigration screening system rejects you for your criminal background, there's still hope. "Former immigration minister Sergio Marchi granted more than 1,500 special permits to rapists, murderers, suspected terrorists and drunk drivers last year. Documents obtained by The Sunday Sun reveal Marchi doled out a total of 5,483 special minister's permits in 1995 to people who were barred from entering Canada. Marchi approved 394 people indicted on a criminal offence for which the maximum sentence was 10 years or more; such as, rape or murder or armed robbery. Terrorism and espionage suspects got special handouts. Ten minister's permits were given out in this category. 'It is appalling,' Reform MP Art Hanger stormed. 'There still is no real effort to get control of the influx of undesirables in this country. We don't need criminals and terrorists, and, yet, that is still the trend that is going on.' Another 1,155 permits were granted to immigrants convicted of a crime carrying less than a 10-year sentence. These include simple assault, drunk driving or theft under $5,000. The special permits ... were also issued to 395 people who posed a health risk, 124 people who had been working here illegally, 536 people who had overstayed their visitor or student visas, and 44 people previously deported." (The Sunday Sun, Calgary, June 9, 1996) Although Marchi admitted hordes of medical risks and criminals, he worried himself sick over ways to deny citizenship to longtime resident publisher Ernst Zundel, who has never been convicted of a crime in Canada.

Dangerous Czech Criminal Can't Be Deported While He's Still on Probation

At times, Canada's immigration system seems like an unexpected visit to the Mad Hatter's tea party. "A dangerous foreign criminal cannot be deported because a judge has ordered him to report regularly to his probation officer. So, the immigration department will ask a provincial court judge next week to remove Milan Luksicek's probation order, acting Vancouver enforcement manager Jeff Williamson said [August 21]. In the meantime, Canadians are paying to keep the Czech citizen in custody. The case marks the first time in B.C. and possibly in Canada that the department will go to court to ask a judge to change an order so that a person can be deported, Williamson said. Luksicek, 23, was released from prison [August 20], but was detained by immigration officials because there is an outstanding deportation order against him. An independent adjudicator agreed to keep Luksicek in custody, but an immigration law allows him to periodically appeal the decision. Williamson said ... there are probably hundreds of people across the country who can't be deported because of probation conditions imposed by the courts. Reform Party immigration critic Val Meredith said ... there are still too many loopholes in the law. ... Luksicek, who has been living in Canada since 1985, was labelled a dangerous offender by the minister's office last fall. His recent criminal record includes at least 28 convictions, including a rash of break-ins in the Kelowna and Penticton area between 1988 and 1994. Williamson said his record includes offences involving violence." (The Vancouver Sun, August 22,1 996)

Ghanaian Gunman Deported

"A gunman convicted of stealing a car and robbing two banks, all on the same day, has been ordered deported to Ghana. Reginald Owoo, 22, who received a 10-year sentence in 1993, left [July 18] escorted by two immigration officers. ... Owoo was declared a danger to the public last January and the immigration minister ordered his removal. On August 27, 1993, a man was ordered out of his car at gunpoint on Silver Springs Blvd.. [in Scarborough]. Two men then drove off in his car. About 45 minutes later, two armed men robbed a Toronto Dominion Bank [and] fled in the stolen car with about $4,000. A second robbery took place at a credit union on Victoria Park at St. Clair Ave., East." (Toronto Star, July 19, 1996) That Owoo is gone, good; however, how did he get into Canada in the first place? Maybe your MP can find out.

Ghanaian Fraud Artist Caught

"A man sought by police for deportation because of numerous criminal convictions has been arrested after a three-year manhunt. James Jar-el Boateng, 28, was wearing a bulletproof vest and had a police scanner when he was arrested [August 28]." (Toronto Star, August 30, 1996) The Star story didn't identify the criminal's origin. "Boateng had escaped from an immigration officer at an airport-area detention centre [in 1993]. The man, who had come to Canada on a student visa in 1987, had been arrested and ordered deported to his native Ghana. He started on a spree using found or stolen identification to get credit cards and loans. During his run, which netted him about $350,000 in cash and goods, the man even arranged a mortgage on a home with forged papers and purchased seven cars. The RCMP and Canada Immigration eventually got involved in the hunt. James Boateng ... faces 61 charges, including fraud, defrauding the public, sexual assault and forcible confinement." (Toronto Sun, August 30, 1996) Baoteng regularly called and taunted Peel Region Det. Constable Jim Wyatt, who was the officer in charge. Boateng would call from California or ski vacations in Maine. Wyatt had the satisfaction of arresting the fraud artist. How could he slip back and forth into Canada from the U.S.?