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International Law

Canadian Immigration Blawg

Expressing my views on the cross-border movement of people in general and the Canadian experience in particular.

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Last Entry: February 28, 2011 at 23:00:01

Canadian Immigration and the Politics of Fear

Posted on February 28, 2011
Once upon a time, about half a century ago, Canadians felt differently about providing safe haven to people fleeing persecution. I can still remember the excitement that permeated my elementary school classroom as we prepared a mid-year welcome for three new students...

New Canadians as Lesser Citizens

Posted on January 31, 2011
There are no two ways about it. As a group, newer Canadians are getting the short end of the stick. In the next Federal election most of their votes will count for only half as much as the votes of other Canadians. This is entirely due to where they happen to reside...

David?s Blog: Canadian Immigration in the Year Ahead

Posted on December 21, 2010
Canadian immigration policy will likely come under considerable scrutiny in 2011. Most political pundits predict that Canadians will be going to the polls next spring to elect a national government and if that happens Canada's approach towards immigration is certain to come up for debate.

Canada has a future

Posted on December 15, 2010
I came across several blogs recently written by new Canadians who use their blogs as a venue to share aspects of their lives in Canada. I was curious to know what these bloggers have in common, if anything. They have immigrated to Canada from different countries, they vary in age, and some have children, while others don?t...

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Canadian Immigrants are Innovators

Posted on October 30, 2010
The current Canadian immigration selection system favours skilled immigrants. They are viewed as part of the solution to the problem of an aging population and shrinking workforce. But beyond this, immigrants are making Canada more innovative and that is a good thing according to a just-released report by the Conference Board of Canada, entitled ?Immigrants as Innovators?...

Anti-immigration versus Pro-immigration

Posted on October 01, 2010
The arrival by sea last month of 492 Tamil asylum seekers continues to serve as a lightning rod for anti-immigration sentiment in Canada. For starters, you have a segment of the population that is fearful. They suspect it is only a matter of time before many more boatloads of refugee claimants land on our shores and they feel powerless to prevent the onslaught they foresee...

Tamil Asylum Seekers Had Help

Posted on September 01, 2010
Earlier this month a dilapidated vessel, the MV Sun Sea, was escorted to a British Columbia harbour by a flotilla of Canadian authorities. Soon after docking, there emerged from her hold a desperate collection of nearly 500 Tamil men, women and children, all at the ready to seek asylum in Canada...

In the Dead of Night

Posted on July 28, 2010
The Canadian House of Commons was adjourned on June 17th and is not scheduled to meet again until September 20th. Summertime is the dead of night in the parliamentary world. Barely a week after the House emptied, the Minister of Immigration announced that he had new instructions for Canadian Visa Officers...

He/She Who Hesitates is Lost

Posted on June 29, 2010
The ?lost? in this proverb, which dates back to England of the early 1700?s, does not mean ?unable to find one?s way home?. Rather, the saying signifies that if you react too slowly to situations, especially urgent ones, you will generally ?lose? a good opportunity...

Mother Slays Dragon

Posted on May 26, 2010
This is my belated Mother?s Day tribute to Maria Gallardo, who, in looking out for her son, was willing, and more than able, to take on anyone who got in her way. Four years ago this month I wrote a blog entitled ?As Canadian as?. a Knife and Fork,? which commented on the disturbing experience of [...

A Question of Timing

Posted on April 27, 2010
One thing we know for certain is that Fredy Villanueva is dead. How he got that way is currently being questioned at a coroner?s inquest in the city of Montreal. And it is the subject of ardent dispute. Here?s what is not in contention. On the evening of August 9, 2008 a group of five unarmed young men were ?playing dice? in a parking lot located in Montreal?s North End...

What Alberta Doesn?t Get

Posted on March 20, 2010
Firstly, here?s a primer for the uninitiated. Canada (the Federal government) has entered into bilateral agreements with all the provinces to allow those provinces to nominate individuals to become Canadian permanent residents based on the nominee?s ability to contribute to the economic growth and development of that province...

What's Sauce for the Goose is Sauce for the Gander

Posted on February 22, 2010
This old English idiom stands for the principle that in a similar situation one should not have one set of rules for one party (usually yourself) and another set of rules for another party (usually someone else).Amid all the excitement and distraction of the Vancouver Olympics, many Canadians are still finding time to express outrage at what is happening in Kahnawake, a Native American (Mohawk)

Helping Haiti: A Canadian Immigration Perspective

Posted on January 27, 2010
A little over two weeks ago Haiti was rocked by an earthquake, which has since claimed over 150,000 lives, and has left hundreds of thousands homeless and wounded. This past Monday, top world officials gathered in Montreal for emergency talks on how to rebuild Haiti in its time of need...

Rain, rain don't go away

Posted on December 28, 2009
I thought I would close out the year 2009 with a little "feel good" story involving Canadian immigration.This is about the Viviers family, who hail from sun-soaked South Africa. Unfortunately for them, three of the four family members suffer from a rare genetic skin disorder that makes exposure to direct sunlight extremely painful...

Two Classes of Permanent Residents

Posted on November 30, 2009
Depending on their nationality, Canadian landed immigrants receive different treatment when it comes to residency requirements.You would expect the Government of Canada to treat all of its landed immigrants (permanent residents) equally and certainly not to discriminate against some of them based on their country of origin...

Think you don't qualify? Think again

Posted on October 29, 2009
Over the past few years, there has been a gradual but steady shift in the ways that people qualify for a Canadian permanent resident visa. More and more, the Canadian government is relying upon the 13 provinces and territories to come up with their own immigration strategies (Quebec and Provincial Nomination Programs), using selection criteria that best suit local interest...

Tempting... but don't do it

Posted on September 24, 2009
Some immigration consultants in Montreal are helping landed immigrants bypass the residency requirements for Canadian citizenship, by offering "life in Canada simulation" services, according to an investigation by the CBC, Canada's national news network...

The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

Posted on August 26, 2009
"The pot calling the kettle black" is an expression, which refers to criticism that could equally apply to the critic. Interestingly, similar idioms can be found in more than 30 languages, across as many cultures and so we can assume that this particular human disposition is universal in nature...

Canada on the wrong immigration track?

Posted on July 29, 2009
About a year ago, I was privileged to appear before parliamentary committees that were charged with examining proposed changes to Canada's immigration selection system. The government of the day claimed that urgent modifications to the law were necessary in order to streamline the immigration process and reduce the backlog of pending skilled worker (economic) applications...

A Tale of Two Cities

Posted on June 30, 2009
We Canadians take our hockey seriously. And why not? It is, after all, our game and no other country can match us over the long haul in international competitions. Hockey for us is a source of pride and many of us follow our favourite teams with the fervour you would expect from a religious devotee...

Second class citizens - Part 2

Posted on May 26, 2009
Around this time last year most Canadians were relieved to learn that Ms Brenda Martin, a Canadian Citizen, had been brought back to Canada after having languished for more than two years in a Mexican Prison.Ms Martin had been incarcerated in Guadalajara in 2006 and charged with receiving illicit funds from a massive investment scam involving her former boss...

Second class citizens - Part 1

Posted on April 29, 2009
If you were to ask me what I consider to be the greatest benefit of being a Canadian, I'd say it's that I get to pass citizenship on to my children. While it's still true for me, its no longer the case for one of my kids who happened to be born in the U...

Let Immigration Reduce the Deficit

Posted on March 31, 2009
First, a bit of good news: Canada will likely weather the current economic storm better than any other Western nation. As the Prime Minister recently pointed out, Canada has a low debt burden, an efficient inflation regime, a diversified economy, flexible labor markets and proper fiscal management going back for more than a decade...

Better Safe Than Sorry

Posted on February 25, 2009
On most days, I truly love what I do. Many lawyers spend their working lives locked in adversarial battles, where one side wins and the other loses. Not much fun, if you ask me. In my job I get to work in an environment, where most of the time there are no loses...

Help is here

Posted on January 11, 2009
I have previously written about what I perceive to be the missing link in Canadian immigration. My grandfather's story illustrates it best. When he arrived in Canada many years ago, my grandfather had nothing but the name of a man in Montreal who once lived in his town...

What was, What is, What's next

Posted on December 22, 2008
Without a doubt, the Canadian immigration story of the past year has to do with the changes made to the Federal Skilled Worker category of immigration. Not only is qualifying now different than it was a year ago, but the application process itself has also changed significantly...

What if?

Posted on November 24, 2008
In a few days from now, the waiting will be over. Not only will we know the fate of the Federal Skilled Worker applications submitted to the Canadian Visa Offices after February 27, 2008, (now in a suspended state) but we will also find out what lies in store for Skilled Worker applications that will be submitted in the coming twelve months...

Hey Ontario, Get in the Game

Posted on October 29, 2008
Here's what the Province of Ontario has to say about immigration on its official website. "Immigration is a cornerstone of Ontario's economic prosperity and social fabric" "More than half of all newcomers to Canada have chosen to settle in Ontario each year since 1987...

After the Election

Posted on September 29, 2008
In two weeks from now, Canadians will go to the polls to select their federal members of Parliament, and unless we experience our own "Dewey Wins" moment, the Conservative Party of Canada will be called upon to form the next national government. I had initially intended this blog to be a review of the immigration policies of the three major political parties (Conservative, Liberal and New