Law Times

Law TiMes • March 8, 2010 FOCUS PAGE 9 Analyzing competing views on Haitian immigration: Should economics trump compassion when humanitarian disaster strikes? BY ROBERT TODD Law Times I mmigration lawyers have mixed views on the federal government's handling of immigration cases stemming from January's devastating earth- quake in Haiti but agree that the response highlights competing perspectives on the country's ap- proach to immigration policy. Th e Haitian government estimates the Jan. 12 earth- quake — measured at 7.0 in magnitude — killed more than 200,000 people. Countries and individuals from across the globe have pulled together to help those displaced by the di- saster. Citizenship and Immi- gration Canada has joined those eff orts by, among other things, setting up a unit in Ottawa to support its offi ce in Haiti. CIC spokeswoman Kelli Fraser tells Law Times the unit is expediting existing adoption and family-class sponsorship applica- tions. Th e department was han- dling 2,000 sponsorship cases for Haiti before the earthquake and has received 1,000 new applica- tions since it struck, she says. By the last week of February, 900 temporary visas had been issued for people in Haiti to come to Canada, she adds. "Priority processing is being given to family-class applica- tions for people who self-iden- tify as having been seriously and directly aff ected by the earthquake," says Fraser. How- ever, all applicants must meet all standard admissibility require- ments, such as medical and se- curity screening. Meanwhile, Quebec is set to accept 3,000 new immigrants from Haiti following the earth- quake, says Fraser. Robert Young, an immigra- tion law specialist with Sullivan Festeryga LLP in Hamilton, notes the federal government re- sponded with similar programs following the 2006 Israel-Hez- bollah war in Lebanon and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami as well as for Iraqis aff ected by the military operation in that coun- try. He believes such programs do more for scoring political points than speeding up the ap- plication process. "Th ere's a disconnect between the management and what's hap- pening at the offi ce level or on the ground," says Young. "Th e staff at the embassy in Port-au- Prince have my sympathy be- cause their building was hit, too, and they have all their problems now, too. Th e infrastructure has broken down; they can't make telephone calls; they can't send out mail. Th ey, too, have supply problems, and that's where the processing is done." Young suggests the govern- ment wants to press ahead with the eff orts despite these limitations. "Don't forget that this gov- ernment has made it a deliber- ate policy to reach out to the ethnic communities," he says. "If you've ever looked at [Citi- zenship and Immigration Min- ister Jason] Kenney's web site, there's not a Vietnamese noodle festival or perogy fest he hasn't invited himself to. Th ey're try- ing to steal Liberal votes by reaching out to the ethnic com- munities. And so, part of it is, 'We are going to show that we are helping Haitians.'" Young says he is working on a pair of immigration matters for Haitians hoping to gain Ca- nadian citizenship. He says they are hurt by what he suggests is a false promise held out to them by the government. "Th ey're beside themselves," he says. "Th ey want to do some- thing, they're looking at all these web pages, all these special pro- grams, all these e-mail links, and they're fi nding that they've drilled a hole and there's no water at the bottom. It's just upsetting." In contrast to Young's view, Sergio Karas, past chairman of the Ontario Bar Association's citizenship and immigration sec- tion, says Ottawa has acted re- sponsibly following the humani- tarian disaster in light of Haiti's historic political instability. "Th e problem with Haiti is that it has been a very problem- atic country in terms of what's going on there," he says. "Th at includes a visa post located in Port-au-Prince that was not the most stellar performer amongst all the visa posts in the world, I have to tell you, because I've dealt with it." Karas says communication with the city's visa post was spot- ty and came against the back- drop of widespread corruption throughout the country. Haiti has also been criticized over the years by international organiza- tions for failing to crack down on the traffi cking of children. "Taking into consideration those issues, I think the govern- ment has handled the situation very responsibly," says Karas, noting that the government focused its response on expe- diting applications from Haiti that were submitted before the disaster. "I think it would have been irresponsible of the govern- ment to throw the gates open and just let everybody apply willy-nilly because at the mo- ment, given the magnitude of the catastrophe, it's impossible to verify anything." Karas says the disaster has also demonstrated the diffi cult situation citizens of neighbour- ing Dominican Republic have faced in their eff orts to move to Canada. Dominican immi- gration applications have previ- ously been processed in Haiti at the Port-au-Prince offi ce, despite the fact that far more ORDER your copy today Perfectbound • 588 pp. • March 2010 On subscription $49 • P/C 0826140000 One time purchase $59 • P/C 0826010000 Multiple copy discounts available ISSN 1195-3136 Canadians travel to the Do- minican Republic versus Haiti. Karas suggests that situation continued largely due to eff orts to bring more French-speaking immigrants to Quebec without regard for political instability. "Th e visa post in Haiti is an outgrowth of Quebec politics and their encouragement for francophone immigration," he says. "Th e Dominicans were always terrifi ed to go to Haiti because it was always a danger- ous place." So Karas applauds the Ca- nadian government for fi nally making visa services available in the Dominican capital city, Santo Domingo, following the earthquake. "Now we're getting the Do- minican applications to the right place," he says. "Th at's an- other sign of progress here." Th ere has also been an out- pouring of interest from Cana- dians to adopt Haitian children following the earthquake. In late January, the Haitian gov- ernment approved the adop- tion of 86 children from the country with an additional 68 being dealt with on an expe- dited basis. Shoshana Green, a partner at Green and Spiegel in Toronto, often handles matters for Cana- dians looking to adopt children from abroad. She suggests it will be diffi cult for the government to rush those applications. "It's a very rigorous process because at the heart of it all are what should motivate the coun- try's immigration policy follow- ing natural disasters? Karas believes governments 'I think it would have been irre- sponsible of the government to throw the gates open,' says Sergio Karas. the best interests of a child," she says. "You can't speed up that process because there are so many checks and balances to be made." Green notes Canadians must fi rst be approved to adopt children from their respective provincial governments, and that alone can be an arduous process that includes an assess- ment by a social worker and home studies. "Th ey go through a ton of hurdles, just on their side, to get approved as a parent," says Green. Looking beyond the practi- cal implications of the govern- ment's response to the crisis, Karas says the situation prompts an important question for Ca- nadians to consider. Namely, should resist some of the short- term demands brought on by natural disasters. It's vital, he says, to focus on nation building and economic interests through immigration policies. He also says it's vital to maintain a con- sistent approach to immigra- tion. If Canada opts to loosen policies for natural disasters like the Haitian earthquake, it must respond in kind to political di- sasters such as that faced by mil- lions in Sudan's Darfur region, says Karas. At the same time, he says it can be counterproductive to bring immigrants to Canada fol- lowing natural disasters. Th ese moves often happen without an adequate view to whether indi- viduals will succeed once they arrive here, he suggests. Karas notes Statistics Canada listed the unemployment rate at 8.3 per cent in January. He points as well to studies suggesting it's getting harder for immigrants to thrive in Canada. Young has a diff erent view on how Canada should ap- proach the issue. He believes the country should do more to open its arms to those aff ected by disasters. "It's how we see ourselves," he says. "Do we see ourselves as being an isolated community or do we see ourselves as compas- sionate people?" LT Ontario Landlord & Tenant Legislation 2010 This updated consolidation contains all the relevant legislation regulating Ontario landlords and tenants including the , and regulations. 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