Canada’s restrictive immigration policies

Feb 03, 2019 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The decision of the Canadian government to ask the PPPC’s presidential candidate, Irfaan Ali, not to proceed with his travel plans to Canada, is symptomatic of that country’s restrictive immigration policies. It bursts the bubble of Canada opening its arms to welcome visitors.
It is also not the first time that a former PPPC Minister became a victim of Canadian immigration policies. Last July, the Immigration Appeal Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada denied an application by a former PPPC Minister to remain in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
Canada’s immigration policies encourage what is called self-sponsorship of skilled persons. This policy has allowed hundreds of Guyanese to migrate permanently each year to Canada, while depriving Guyana of much-needed skills.
Yet, when some of these very skilled persons want to serve their country, they are denied the opportunity to reintegrate into Canada, unless they meet that country’s strict residency requirements.
This is what happened to a former PPPC Minister who returned to Canada after the PPPC lost power in 2015. She had acquired residency status in 2009 while still serving in the PPP government but, because of her duties as a Minister, was unable to spend the required 700-odd days, which the immigration authorities said she should have spent in Canada during the time she was working as a Minister in Guyana.
Despite not working since her return to Canada, there was ample evidence that she had taken steps to reintegrate into Guyana, including paying for a property there. She had an elderly mother and daughter resident in Canada who were both in need of her. Yet, the court found that they would not suffer hardships were she to be removed from the country.

This is the same Canada that likes to boast about its diversity. And which is proud to say that more than one-fifth of its population is foreign-born; and would have migrated from all around the world.
Canada’s Prime Minister says that diversity has been its strength. He has hailed Canada’s refugee policy. But when Canada speaks about accepting refugees, it does so in terms of tens of thousands per year and not in terms of millions.
Each year, Canada accepts more than 300,000 immigrants to its shores. But this openness to immigration is not done out of goodwill. Canada needs people to help develop its economy and therefore has had no other choice but to open its doors to immigrants.
Canada has done a remarkable job of projecting a global image of openness to immigration. But as Tom Keller noted in his column in The Atlantic last July, Canada’s immigration policies are far from liberal. It denies more than one-third of all visa applications and its visitor visa requirements are among the most restrictive in the world. It shows a strong bias towards attracting highly-educated and skilled persons.
Canada’s immigration laws are extremely strict, perhaps as they ought to be, in protecting its citizens. But they are also used as a layer of restriction.
Canada’s immigration laws allow for the possible denial of entry for persons convicted or charged for criminal offences. It does not matter if someone has not been convicted. The mere fact that someone is charged with an offence means that person may be denied admission into Canada.
You can be denied entry into Canada if you are charged with a criminal offence in another country, once that offence is considered a serious criminal offence in Canada. The immigration officer is not required to make a judgment as to the validity of the charges or their likelihood of being successfully prosecuted.

The immigration officer is not bound by the presumption of innocence. The mere fact that someone is facing multiple charges places the immigration officer in a position of strength in terms of denying entry.
The Canadian High Commission in Trinidad, which handles immigration matters in this neck of the woods, advised the PPPC’s presidential candidate not to proceed with his travel plans. It knew that if, per chance, an immigration officer were to question Ali about whether he has ever been charged in Guyana and he admitted that he is presently before the courts, then he could be denied entry.
The immigration officer is not going to be moved by explanations that the charges are politically motivated or that the High Court has placed a stay on those charges. It is all part of Canada’s restrictive immigration policies.

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Canada’s restrictive immigration policies

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