July 13, 2009, Lesley Ciarula Taylor, Nicholas Keung, Toronto Star

Canada’s introduction of visas for travellers from Mexico and the Czech Republic “shuts the door against genuine refugee claims and tarnishes our reputation,” said Toronto immigration lawyer Max Berger, who has represented 400 Czech Roma refugee cases last year and this. He described a Roma woman who came to Canada; she had had two swastikas carved into her chest by skinheads. “If that isn’t convincing enough, I don’t know what is.”

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Calgary Herald July 10, 2009

CALGARY — Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Friday he wants more immigrants in Canada to learn one of the country’s official languages and expects them to better integrate into Canadian society. In Calgary to announce $9.5 million in funding for language training programs in the city, Kenney said the government expects all immigrants to speak French or English if they are to become Canadian citizens. Currently, only a quarter of them are taking advantage of government-funded language courses — even though it’s a “critical pathway to success in Canada,” he said.

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July 04, 2009, Toronto Star

Alarm is growing among refugee advocates that Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is injecting politics into a system designed to give desperate people sanctuary. This comes after an explosion of Czech asylum-seekers, all of them Roma – once called gypsies – have flooded into Ontario this year to escape neo-Nazi firebombings and beatings. Peter Showler, former chair of the Immigration and Refugee Board, said yesterday, “The government would like to create a system where countries with high refusal rates can be dealt with quickly through some form of expedited process involving a decision by an immigration officer.

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By Uzma Shakir; June 27, 2009 – The Star

The federal government’s latest moves to step up deportations of foreign workers have solidified Canada’s fall from grace when it comes to our immigration policy. Coordinated raids throughout southern Ontario since May have already led to the arrest and deportation of at least 100 undocumented workers originating from places such as Thailand, Mexico, China, the Philippines and the Caribbean. Many more currently await their fate while in detention, according to No One Is Illegal, an immigrant rights organization monitoring the emerging situation. Interestingly, no charges have been laid against the employers.

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By Krystalline Kraus | June 17, 2009. rabble.ca

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney have the political power to decide who they want to let into Canada and who they want to keep out. With the power to make these decisions, a pattern has emerged where the current Conservative government has laid out the red carpet for former U.S. government officials such as George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Condoleezza Rice. While other people seeking entry or residency to Canada have encountered nothing but a locked door and an unwelcome mat. Or, if they currently reside in Canada, they are about to be kicked out.

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