Law Times

Page 6 April 3, 2017 • lAw Times www.lawtimesnews.com COMMENT u EDITORIAL OBITER By Gabrielle Giroday Timing is everything Once upon a time, in 2015, a plan by then-president Barack Obama and then-prime minister Stephen Harper to make travelling be- tween the two countries faster seemed like a very sensible idea. What a difference two years make. In 2017 — while Canadians are well aware of the historic importance of the country's relation- ship with the United States — there is much more uncertainty about the approach of American customs officers to those crossing their borders. This week, Law Times reports that immigration lawyers are voi- cing concerns with Bill C-23. They say the proposed changes would give enhanced powers to American border officers working at Canadian airports and likely result in a great deal of uncertainty for their work and their clients. The bill would mean U.S. officers would have the power to detain Canadians travelling to the U.S. at preclearance facilities at some Canadian airports, and lawyers say Canadians will have little to no legal recourse for when their privacy rights are violated. "If entries are refused, for suspect or other reasons, it will create re-work as we try to investigate and understand the reasons for re- fusal, then try to address same to finally gain entry for clients," says Pantea Jafari, an immigration lawyer. "I imagine we will also see increased concerns of clients being f lagged for secondary review based on suspect and discriminatory NDP caught off guard BY RICHARD CLEROUX P olitics can be tricky. One minute you're on top of the world and it seems no one will ever be able to knock you down. Then, suddenly, when you least expect it, somebody in right field whacks you unexpectedly and it's "Please start over, my friend." That's what the New Democratic Party leadership contenders discovered to their dismay March 27. The previous day, before a bilingual audience in Montreal, they had staged a most successful televised party leader- ship debate. Everybody looked great. Each one had something good to offer Canada and nothing nasty to say about each other. Quebec MP Guy Caron made it clear he was speaking to a youth audience. "I want to change the world as you do," Caron told them with a straight face. And then he added that meant no more pipelines such as the Kinder Mor- gan pipeline going to the West Coast. Northern Ontario MP Charlie Angus told his youthful audience that, when he was younger, "I was an activist just like you," but that what concerns him most today is the "lack of jobs" for young people. That's what he hears everywhere he travels in Canada. It certainly isn't sunny ways, he added. It happens to be Justin Trudeau's frequent line. B.C. MP Peter Julian told the audience he was in favour of "free tuition" for people in university. Manitoba MP Niki Ash- ton was concerned about students who were working at three jobs and still weren't making enough to pay their university tuition. Some candidates even fed good lines to each other. Nobody took cheap shots. Nobody had language problems. Even the television coverage was clear and concise. Conservatives watching the NDP debate at home on television must have muttered to themselves, "Why can't we have leadership debates where all of us sound great like this and our entire party ends up on top?" The Dipper candidates on stage in Montreal Sunday afternoon managed to say all the right things about why Canadians, young or old alike, deserve legalized marijuana if they want it, just as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised them during the last election campaign. None of the NDP can- didates took cheap shots at each other. Trudeau was their only target, except for an oc- casional aside, sometimes aimed at Donald Trump. If winning elections was about nothing more than cranking out mean shots at your political opponents, Tom Mulcair would easily still be the federal NDP leader going into the next election and the NDP leader- ship candidates wouldn't be stuck in a leadership campaign nobody seems to know who's going to win this coming October. Several of the NDP candidates on stage said that in their travels one thing they frequently hear from voters is that Ottawa doesn't ref lect their reality. During last year's U.S. federal elec- tion campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump repeated during speeches that many voters had told him Washington didn't ref lect their reality. The irony of the NDP using a Trump line seemed lost on the studio audience. What those happy, hearty Sunday afternoon Dippers didn't seem to see coming was a wicked whack on the side of the head first thing Monday morning. It would be payback time for the Gen- tle Dipper Debaters, delivered in the dulcet tones of a velvet CBC radio voice. That's how the best shots always see to come in politics. Ever so informatively, the CBC an- nounced oh so politely that, within 10 days, the Liberal government would introduce long-promised legislation on recreational marijuana use and that, by July 1, 2018, smoking pot would be legal. It also announced that provinces would be involved in deciding prices, age limits or whatever else. Pow! With one small, short new item on CBC radio (that wasn't even its own announcement), the Trudeau Liberals had stolen the NDP's major election plank in the upcoming campaign. So what can the NDP do now? It can't very well steal the Conservative party's big anti-marijuana plank. The NDP has to find something else. And quickly! Trudeau isn't going to wait forever to call his general election. LT uRichard Cleroux is a freelance reporter and columnist on Parlia- ment Hill. His email address is richardcleroux34@gmail.com. targeting, which will require [a] different type of work for clients." The federal Liberal government ought to be aware of the winds of Canadian public opinion and the nation's sensitivity on immigration-related issues. Wake up, and re-tool C-23. LT ©2017 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without written per- mission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Law Times disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reli- ance upon information in this publication. 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