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Oh Canada!! What on earth are you doing?

This is enough to make you cry....

From a Judge in the Scarborough, Ontario Citizenship Court who served from 1992 to 1998.

Under the law (and case law) I was forced to award citizenship to so many that should not have been given the privilege of becoming a citizen of Canada. The Chretien government wanted to let everybody in for they looked on them not as people who would build the country but as votes. I interviewed dozens of refugees who were granted landed status in Canada because of their claim that their life was in danger in their home country. We abide by the United Nations convention on refugees. They apply for citizenship once they have been in Canada for three years (1095 days) and when they come to be interviewed by me I see by their documents they have made two or three trips back to their homeland for vacations. They return to the country where they claimed they were in danger of being killed. When I mention this to them, they just give a smart-ass grin. They know that once the Refugee Board (made up of political appointees) gives them landed status they are IN. All they have to do is sit on their butt and wait for three years and they get citizenship.

As refugees, even though illegal with no (or fake) documents once they set foot on Canadian soil get social assistance (welfare), housing, free legal aid, OHIP (Ontario Medical) and free dental. The federal government Immigration officer who interviews them when they first arrive in Canada only gets 60% of dental paid - the refugee gets 100%. Chretien decreed that all those over 60 get in free (by the way most countries have an age limit - we don`t) meaning that to become a citizen they don`t have to be healthy or pass any test, they don`t have to be able to speak English or French - just have a warm body and be in the country for 1095 days. Turn up at Citizenship Court, raise your right hand and repeat the oath after me. I thought it was illegal (but Ottawa said was OK) for when I did an "over 60`s" court swearing-in ceremony the 50 or so people attending didn`t understand what I`m was saying. They can`t repeat the oath after me - in fact many of the aged ones really don``t know where the hell they are or why they are there. Many times when I begin to administer the Oath and say "raise your right hand" nobody moves. Then I see someone who has accompanied them take their right hand and hold it up.

Even worse are the many others in our general court who understand English but as I shake hands and congratulate them on receiving their Canadian Citizenship certificate they ask me on what floor is the passport office located. Many times I ground my teeth when I heard, "I want to get a passport so I can go home to my country." My God, I just made the a citizen of the greatest country in the world. Quite a few times I ended the interview when a Middle Eastern gentleman told me his wife could not remove her veil. They got quite angry when I told them under Canadian law women are equal to men and your wife has to decide whether she wants to be a citizen or not. I will refuse her application if I can`t see her face and compare it to the picture on her documents - and she will have to re-apply. I saw some sad cases where marriages were arranged by families. In one case I thought the man with the young lady was her grandfather. He was her husband. Few people know that the Chretien government approved marriages by telephone. The bride arrives and must marry the Canadian resident within 90 days in a legal ceremony here. But she already has been given "landed" status so she can divorce him the next day and can stay, for once landed there is no provision in law to send her back.

Although I was not involved with the Immigration side of the Ministry of Immigration and Citizenship most immigration official I knew and worked with were disgusted with their political masters for the terrible looseness of the system. When a refugee is rejected by the Refugee Board he is given a date to (on his honour) return to appeal the decision. He was bad enough to be rejected - and he could be a hardened criminal or a murderer - or terrorist in his country of origin - but he is expected to return - quite possibly to be deported. How stupid can we be. He`s here - he won`t be back. There are between 30,000 and 40,000 who never showed up are wandering the country - maybe with fake documents - or have snuck into the United States. I would tell you who did this to the country - but you already know. CW