The concern that we identified was the introduction of Bill C‐4, the Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada’s Immigration System Act. This bill explicitly targets refugees who arrive “illegally” in Canada; ostensibly in an effort to prevent costly refugee claims from countries in the European Union and the United States. We agree that there are problems with the refugee determination system but Bill C-4, which imposes a mandatory minimum 12 month detention for “irregular arrivals” to Canada, is not the answer. In addition, the bill proposes that refugees be denied permanent resident status and immediate family reunification for five years after release from detention. We believe that this policy would be harmful to potential refugees and have decided to oppose the bill in an effort to join the many people who are already working towards this end. We do not have the illusion that we can defeat this bill on our own but feel that we can make a difference by adding our voices to the pre-existing protest against the bill and raise some awareness.
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