International Law

The 'Balanced Refugee Reform Act'

By immlawyer

As I've recently tweeted, I'm not a fan of euphemistic legislative titles.

The 'Balanced Refugee Reform Act' should instead be called the 'Limiting Access to our Immigration and Refugee System'. The former title seems to imply that there is a balancing of interests. Let's be clear - there is no 'balancing', only a tipping of the scale in favour of the government. 

Lawyers Weekly has an article detailing the proposed changes to the current system here.

The issue that few are talking about is the fact that there is an absence of independence in this proposed new system. Front-line decision makers are civil servants, not independent tribunal members. Why is this important? Rephrased: how can we be certain that a decision is on the facts and merits of the individual case when the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (who presumably has the ability to determine the apogee and perigee of a civil servants career) is opining about the bona fides of claims from certain countries?

There was a reason why an independent tribunal was set up to determine refugee claims. I'm not certain that abandoning that framework is the wisest course of action.

Full post as published by Canadian Immigration Blawg on April 19, 2010 (boomark / email).