Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, April 27, 2012

Minister wants to extend ID screening

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says he supports extending biometric ID requirements to permanent residents and would consider amending his current omnibus immigration bill to make it happen.

"I think in principle, we should be doing everything we reasonably can to identify visitors or immigrants and ensure they don't represent a threat to Canada's safety, so biometrics is the best technical tool at our disposal and I think in principle, that it should be applied to not just temporary but also permanent residents," Kenney said Thursday after testifying before a Commons committee reviewing Bill C-31, the Protecting Canada's Immigration Act.

After hinting at it during the meeting, he confirmed the government was "considering" amending the bill to ensure it covers permanent residents.

For now, the provision that would grant Citizenship and Immigration the legal authority to collect fingerprints and digital photographs starting next year only applies to those entering Canada on a visitor visa, work permit or study visa.

Kenney was on the hot seat Thursday as Commons committee members grilled him on his refugee bill for the first time.

Bill C-31 seeks to deport so-called bogus refugee claimants more quickly, clamp down on human smugglers and require certain visa holders to provide biometric data. The bill would fast-track refugee applications from so-called safe countries deemed unlikely to produce bona fide asylum claimants and bar those who were refused refugee status from filing an appeal.

It's billed as an improvement on a refugee bill passed during the previous Parliament but not brought into force. That bill was approved with much fanfare after the then-minority Conservatives reached a consensus with the NDP. The new bill, however, effectively reintroduces contentious elements that were omitted - a move that has the official Opposition New Democrats crying foul.

Critics also say the proposed legislation puts too much power in the hands of the minister and raised further concerns Thursday about a provision that could have the unintended consequence of revoking a refugee's permanent residence due to improved circumstances in their country of origin.

Kenney said the provision is actually aimed at "streamlining" the current two-step pro-cess for revoking the status of those found to have obtained their refugee status fraudulently and that he's open to amendments that might clarify the situation.

Original Article
Source:  vancouver sun
Author: Tobi Cohen

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