Migrant Ship — Affront To Canadians, Insult To Law-Abiding Immigrants

Here are a few comments from the CBC website - it's great to see that not everybody here has parted with common sense when it comes to treating illegal migrants:

Hanna_PV wrote:

I hope Canada sends them away...it´s not fair to canadian citizen and legal immigrants..

for immigrants that want to live legally in Canada it´s like a punch in the stomach..all the waiting(sometimes takes more than 3 years), the money spent with english courses, french courses, the lack of social life to be able to save money, the 2/3 jobs to also be able to save money, being away from the family, thousands spent with the PR proccess, mean nothing,right?

And how about all the taxes canadian citizens have to pay to then see all of it going to free social services to illegal refugees.

Not fair at all!!!!

(Posted 2010/08/13 at 6:34 AM ET)

Well said. If anything - the whole refugee determination system is an insult to law-abiding immigrants who came here under the skilled worker class program. A professional who chooses to move to Canada has to go through some 3-5 years of paperwork before he's allowed to set foot on Canadian soil. But someone who doesn't qualify (yet still wishes to try to sneak through the back door,) can just get a plain ticket, claim to be a refugee - and right away he gets the right to stay in Canada and receive social assistance, while his case is being reviewed. These migrants on the ship obviously knew that even though they wouldn't be really welcome in Canada, nobody is going to send them back; at least - not for 2 years or so, until the last of their appeals gets declined.

Was there a way to prevent that ship from getting here? Yes, there was:

The Source wrote:

This ship must not be allowed to dock. Period. There is a pattern here and it has got to stop. Now! It has cost these people $45,000 each to get onto this ship. Who is getting paid? Confiscate the vessel. Charge the crew with trafficking in human cargo, charter a Hercules and return these people to where they came from so that they stand in line with everyone else who wants to come to this country.

(Posted 2010/08/11 at 2:30 PM ET)

Exactly! I wonder how come nobody in the government didn't think about it. (Or, if they did - how come they haven't legislated these measures yet?)

Would there be many captains willing to set sail for Canada, if they knew that they and their crew would be arrested upon arrival and spend the next few years in jail for trafficking illegal migrants? Would there be many ship owners agreeing to let their ship be used for human smuggling if they knew that the ship would be confiscated and sold to cover deportation expenses? And, without the transportation available - how long you think this kind of migrant trafficking would last?

If Vic Toews wants to take a hard stance on those migrant ship, he better read the comment and act accordingly. And, if the opposition parties once again try to water down the bill, (because they believe that migrants' interests should take precedence over the interests of the nation,) then the government should make it a confidence vote and see if the lefties have the guts to make this an election issue.