Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

Feds were warned about setting 'significant precedent' with Ukraine visa program

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 23 Jul, 2024 04:01 PM
  • Feds were warned about setting 'significant precedent' with Ukraine visa program

Federal immigration officials warned the government it risked undermining the temporary immigration system with the design of the emergency visa program for war-displaced Ukrainians, newly released court documents show. 

Immigration Department staff raised the concern in a memo to Sean Fraser, immigration minister at the time, shortly after the program was announced.

The memos outline the design of the Ukraine visa program, which allowed an unlimited number of Ukrainians and their family members to come to Canada to wait out the war.

The policy also waived the requirement for fleeing Ukrainians to promise to leave when their visa expires, against the advice of department staff.

"Waiving the need for a client to establish temporary intent would set a significant precedent that is not recommended, given that it would undermine a foundational component of the (temporary resident) legal framework," staff said in the memo to Fraser, which was signed March 14, 2022.

Staff cautioned that waiving the requirement — the foundation of the temporary resident program — would set an "expectation that it could be done for other populations, not only those affected by conflict."

The documents were disclosed as part of a proposed lawsuit against the federal government by three Afghan Canadians, who allege Canada discriminated against Afghan refugees by treating them differently than it did Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.

The lawsuit hasn't yet been certified by the court.

"The government knew that what they were doing was unfair," said Nicholas Pope, one of the lawyers representing the Afghan Canadians.

"That's just what we're arguing in this case. That it's unfair, it's discriminatory, and there's not a good reason why protections shouldn't be applied to people who aren't from Europe."

The lawsuit was filed by Canadians who served as language and culture advisers to the Canadian government and NATO during the war in Afghanistan, but haven't been allowed to bring family members in Afghanistan to safety. 

Canada has approved some 962,600 emergency visas for Ukrainians since the 2022 Russian invasion, which allow people fleeing the conflict to work and study while the war rages.

The program was generally well received in Canada, where people opened their homes to Ukrainians and donated clothes, furniture and other essentials to help them settle during their stay. 

Roughly 298,000 actually made the trip to Canada, though it's unclear how many have stayed, and how many have since applied for permanent residency. 

The documents also warn the design of the program could disadvantage Ukrainians by effectively creating "second class" permanent residents, without access to settlement supports or equivalent status under the law. 

The government has argued the emergency program for Ukrainians can't be compared to the program for Afghan refugees, because people from Afghanistan are unlikely to be able to return home.

In the memo, though, staff say the key distinction between temporary programs and permanent ones is the requirement that visa holders declare their intention to leave. 

The department officials described the Ukraine emergency visa program as "exceptional in nature."

"It underscores Canada's unique relationship with Ukraine, the extensive diaspora and family links, as well as the unique nature of the conflict as a significant land invasion adjacent to EU countries with generous immigration measures," the memo reads.

"However, it risks setting a significant precedent, one which may result in future pressures on the government to take similar action for other emergencies."

Two full pages of legal considerations outlined by the department were blacked out in the documents provided to the court. 

Fraser ultimately agreed with the department's recommendation not to publish the policy publicly, given the "unprecedented and exceptional nature" of the approach. 

Pope seized on that point Tuesday.

"Why would you not publish a policy if you're proud of it, and you think that it's fair, and you think that it's just and you think that it's Charter compliant?" he asked.

"I think they really understood the problematic nature of this."

The offices of Fraser, now housing minister, and the current immigration minister, Marc Miller, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The government has emphasized that the Ukrainian program is intended to be temporary, and has encouraged those without family ties to Canada to apply for permanent residency through traditional means if they hope to stay. 

Since Fraser announced the visa program, the government has faced accusations of unfairly limiting temporary refuge to people attempting to flee conflicts in Sudan and the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

In February the Canadian Council for Refugees pointed out the disparity between the program for Ukrainians and the temporary refuge programs for Sudanese people.

"The crisis in Sudan … is of catastrophic proportions," the group wrote to Miller earlier this year.

"Given the scale of the crisis, the limit of 3,250 applications in the family-based humanitarian pathway is inadequate to the need. In contrast, Canada admitted an unlimited number of Ukrainians on temporary visas, and the pathway to permanent residence for Ukrainians is similarly without a cap."

MORE National ARTICLES

3 charged in illicit drug lab

3 charged in illicit drug lab
Three men have been charged after a Vancouver Police investigation into an illicit drug lab that was producing fentanyl and other deadly street drugs. Police say the 14-month investigation targeted a group that was manufacturing and trafficking illicit drugs at various locations throughout the region. 

3 charged in illicit drug lab

B.C. government and social media giants make deal on non-consensual intimate images

B.C. government and social media giants make deal on non-consensual intimate images
The British Columbia government and social media giants have made what they call a "historic collaboration" for youth safety online. A joint statement from Premier David Eby and representatives of Meta, Google, TikTok, X and Snap Inc., the parent of Snapchat, says they met to help young people stay safe online, one of the most important challenges facing families, government and companies. 

B.C. government and social media giants make deal on non-consensual intimate images

Chief says grave search at B.C. residential school brings things 'full circle'

Chief says grave search at B.C. residential school brings things 'full circle'
Chief Robert Michell says relief isn't the right word to describe his reaction as the search begins for unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school he attended in northern British Columbia. Michell is the chief of Stellat'en First Nation some 160 kilometres west of Prince George, B.C., and a survivor of the Lejac Indian Residential School where a geophysical survey is underway to find children missing since the facility closed in 1976.  

Chief says grave search at B.C. residential school brings things 'full circle'

'The whole country is not on fire': Canadian tourism industry struggles as fires rage

'The whole country is not on fire': Canadian tourism industry struggles as fires rage
Canada's tourism industry is trying to put on its Sunday best this week, showcasing itself to more than 500 international travel agents and tour operators at the largest annual tourism convention in Canada. But as Rendez-vous Canada is taking place at the Edmonton Convention Centre, one of the biggest challenges Canada's tourism industry is facing is playing out in technicolour just a few hundred kilometres away: wildfires. 

'The whole country is not on fire': Canadian tourism industry struggles as fires rage

Spy agency CSIS reveals 24 harassment investigations in annual report

Spy agency CSIS reveals 24 harassment investigations in annual report
Canada's spy agency has released its annual public report, revealing that it dealt with 24 harassment investigations last year involving complaints by its staff. But the chief human resources officer for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service says the number of investigations shouldn't be used to criticize the agency, and they instead show more employees are placing "faith and confidence in CSIS’ internal grievance process."

Spy agency CSIS reveals 24 harassment investigations in annual report

Three B.C. school districts to launch fully integrated, daylong child care, says Eby

Three B.C. school districts to launch fully integrated, daylong child care, says Eby
Three school districts in British Columbia will start one-stop child-care programs at local elementary schools this fall. Premier David Eby says offering parents before-and-after-school child care at the same location will save families time and money, create less stress for parents and is an efficient use of school space and resources.

Three B.C. school districts to launch fully integrated, daylong child care, says Eby