Refugees in, Kenney out

On February 16th, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney introduced Bill C-31, Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act. Rejected by immigrant and refugee rights organizations as a dangerous violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and of international law, Bill C-31 signals an escalation in Canada’s racist scapegoating of refugees and asylum seekers.

According to the government press release, the reforms proposed under the bill “are aimed at deterring abuse of Canada’s generous immigration and refugee system.” In reality, Canada’s immigration system is anything but generous, and these new “reforms” are aimed at creating a two-tiered refugee system, imposing unrealistically shorter timelines for refugees to prove their claims, and further consolidating power into the office of Jason Kenney.

Under Bill C-31, individuals as young as 16 and 17 will be placed in detention, while children under the age of 16 will be forcibly separated from their parents.

The legislation also calls for a minimum one-year detention for “irregular arrivals,” and while Kenney has recently claimed that a review of their situation will take place after 14 days and then again after six months, it fails to alter the fact that mandatory detention remains the default response.

Bill C-31, like its failed precursor Bill C-4, attempts to further the outright criminalization of immigrants and refugees in Canada. In order to stop it in its tracks, and put an end to unjust deportations and detentions, we need to join together and stop Kenney and Harper from scapegoating refugees for the economic crisis.