Supporters, Allies, and Friends, We have some news. Jason Kenney is coming to town. That’s right — our  favourite racist Immigration Minister will be in Vancouver TOMORROW  (Saturday November 14th) and we’re getting ready to welcome him in style.  Join us!

WHERE? Marine Drive Global Lounge (Bldg #1), Marine Drive Residence @ UBC. See map.
WHEN? 3.15 PM with free pizza! Organized by the UBC Campus Conservatives. OR MEET US: We will be meeting at the UBC Bus Loop (at the 99BLine  stop) at 2.15 PM and will leave at 2.30 to walk down to the residences. If  you are unable to make it earlier, feel free to meet us there. Bring signs,  noisemakers, or other creative props! To reach us, contact 778 552 2099.

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By Laura Stone, Canwest News Service, November 12, 2009

OTTAWA — A new citizenship guide for potential immigrants to Canada flatly declares that new Canadians cannot engage in “barbaric” cultural practices such as genital mutilation and “honour killings.” The new guide, released Thursday by Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, says in a section called “Equality of Women and Men” that such practices are illegal and severely punishable under Canada’s criminal laws. “Multiculturalism doesn’t mean that anything goes. Multiculturalism means that we celebrate what’s best about our backgrounds, but we do so on the basis of common Canadian values and respect for our laws,” said Kenney.

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November 2, 2009, Bill Curry, The Globe and Mail

The number of refugees gaining asylum in Canada has dropped dramatically under the Conservatives as new figures reveal the impact of the government’s efforts to transform this country’s immigration system. New statistics released by the government show the number of successful claims by refugees living in Canada fell to less than half of what it was when the Conservatives came to office. The final immigration numbers for 2008 – as well as future projections – come as Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is promising to refocus Canada’s refugee system on what the government calls “real victims” rather than migrants seeking to abuse the process.

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By Norma Greenaway, Canwest News Service, November 2, 2009

OTTAWA — Canada expects to accept fewer refugees and family class immigrants in the coming year than this year, new government figures show. The 2010 numbers, outlined in Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s annual report to Parliament, show the government’s target for accepting people who apply for asylum after they land in Canada is more than 3,000 less this year. The maximum 2010 target number for spouses, children, parents and grandparents of immigrants is 8,000 fewer than this year’s, the report says. Kenney set the total immigration figure for next year at 240,000 to 265,000, about the same as in recent years.

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The Embassy, By Laura Payton, October 28, 2009

Figures obtained by Embassy show Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is only telling part of the story when he claims success in cutting down on the number of Mexicans applying for asylum. When the government imposed visa requirements on July 14 for travellers from Mexico and the Czech Republic, Mr. Kenney said it was doing so to limit the number of people travelling to Canada from those countries to apply for asylum. Over the past month or so, Mr. Kenney has been boasting that the visas have been extremely successful, citing dramatic decreases in the number of applications being made at Canadian ports of entry. To prove those claims, he has highlighted the fact that 1,323 Mexican refugee claims were made at Canadian ports of entry in the 10 weeks prior to the visa imposition. That contrasts with 35 Mexican applications made at Canadian ports of entry in the two-and-a-half months since the visa requirements came were introduced.

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