CANADA ON JUNE 20 2013 BILL C-43 KNOWN FASTER REMOVAL OF FOREIGN CRIMINALS ACT PASSED WHICH DENIED APPEAL RIGHTS TO IMMIGRATION APPEAL DIVISION AND GREATER PENALTIES FOR MISREPRESENTATION WITH LIMITATION OF ACCESS TO HUMANITARIAN CONSIDERATION AND POWER TO MINISTER OF IMMIGRATION TO DENY TEMPORARY RESIDENT STATUS IS BEING SEEN AS CONTROVERSIAL NOW June 20th, 2013 marked the day that Bill C-43, also known as the Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act (FRFCA), was passed into law. The bill amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which is the primary federal legislation that regulates immigration to Canada. The bill makes significant changes to Canada’s immigration program, including: A loss of appeal rights to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) Greater penalties for misrepresentation Limitation of access to humanitarian and compassionate consideration A grant of new authority to the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism to deny temporary resident status A Loss of Appeal Rights Before the legislative changes, anyone who engaged in criminal activity and who received a deportation order because of it was still able to make an appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division, as long as they had spent less than two years in jail for their crime. An appeal is a process for requesting a formal change to an official decision, and would basically allow these people to delay their deportation. But the new law states that any permanent resident who has spent more than six months in jail is no longer eligible to bring an appeal. Now, these people will receive their deportation orders immediately upon conviction and will be shipped out of Canada without ever having any right to appeal. This “one-strike-and-you’re-out” policy will have huge consequences for permanent residents who have been lawfully admitted into Canada: any offence that carries with it six months or more of jail time will see a permanent resident deported to their homeland. New Authority There is also controversy with respect to the new authority granted to the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney. Whereas the prior law gave no discretionary Ministerial authority, this new law allows the Minister to deny temporary resident status for up to three years on the basis of public policy considerations. What this means is that, even if the individual is not a foreign criminal, the Minister can refuse them temporary entry. The problem with this is that it theoretically enables a political party to refuse entry for political purposes. A Loss of Appeal Rights Before the legislative changes, anyone who engaged in criminal activity and who received a deportation order because of it was still able to make an appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division, as long as they had spent less than two years in jail for their crime. An appeal is a process for requesting a formal change to an official decision, and would basically allow these people to delay their deportation. But the new law states that any permanent resident who has spent more than six months in jail is no longer eligible to bring an appeal. Now, these people will receive their deportation orders immediately upon conviction and will be shipped out of Canada without ever having any right to appeal. This “one-strike-and-you’re-out” policy will have huge consequences for permanent residents who have been lawfully admitted into Canada: any offence that carries with it six months or more of jail time will see a permanent resident deported to their homeland. New Authority There is also controversy with respect to the new authority granted to the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney. Whereas the prior law gave no discretionary Ministerial authority, this new law allows the Minister to deny temporary resident status for up to three years on the basis of public policy considerations. What this means is that, even if the individual is not a foreign criminal, the Minister can refuse them temporary entry. The problem with this is that it theoretically enables a political party to refuse entry for political purposes.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 01:47:13 +0000
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