Good news - Bill C-280 passed 3rd reading in the House! Next step: the Senate.

Toronto Star
New bill misses point

May 24, 2007 04:30 AM
Allan Thompson

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Diane Finley has taken steps to keep
vulnerable people out of Canada with a new bill that would instruct
immigration officers to deny work permits to foreign strippers or others
bound for "humiliating or degrading treatment." According to Finley and
her officials, these measures would help "strippers, low-skilled labourers
as well as potential victims of human trafficking," by keeping them out of
Canada and out of the degrading work.

Some newcomers to Canada would tell you strippers are not the only people
forced to work in degrading, demoralizing jobs after they arrive. Talk to
the skilled professionals driving cabs, the doctors working as orderlies
and the lawyers making telemarketing calls. They need Finley's attention
too.

Some critics see Finley's proposal as a crass political move designed to
conjure up memories of the Liberal era "strippergate," the case of an
exotic dancer who ended up working for then immigration minister Judy
Sgro. Indeed, Finley made an explicit connection to the Sgro situation in
her public rationale for the proposed changes.

Certainly there is reason to question whether Finley's proposal to use
legislative changes to block strippers should top the agenda, or even if
it is the most effective way to deal with victims of human trafficking, or
those in vulnerable situations.

The Canadian Council for Refugees, an umbrella organization for groups
dealing with refugees, has been floating a proposal for months for
legislative change that would provide more protection for victims of
trafficking who find themselves in Canada. Notably the refugee council
proposal deals with helping vulnerable people in Canada, rather than
focusing on keeping vulnerable people out of the country.

According to the refugee council, provisions in the law now serve only to
criminalize trafficking and promote the detention of trafficked persons.
The refugee council is calling for explicit changes that would make it a
priority to protect the human rights of trafficked persons in Canada.

The refugee council says the rules for how trafficked persons can seek
temporary residence in Canada are of limited use. For one thing,
applicants have to meet a high standard to prove they are indeed a victim
of trafficking. And they are obliged to talk to law enforcement officials
as part of the process of being allowed to remain, something the council
fears would deter many from even coming forward.

The refugee council's proposals are worth a look, especially if we are
serious about dealing with human trafficking.

And when it comes to addressing the needs of those vulnerable to abuse,
other issues cry out for the minister's attention. Canada has been
criticized for its agonizingly slow process for dealing with requests for
resettlement to Canada by vulnerable people. The office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is aware of the problem.

Wouldn't it make more sense to focus our energy on the vulnerable people
who need Canada's protection, rather than devising ways to keep people
out?

Government bill takes the wrong approach to the problem of trafficking

Montréal – The Canadian Council for Refugees today expressed disappointment with Bill C-57, tabled in Parliament on 16 May by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

“This bill does nothing to protect the rights of trafficked persons already here in Canada,” said Loly Rico, chair of the CCR’s Anti-Trafficking Committee. “Worse, the bill takes a condescending, moralistic approach, empowering visa officers to decide which women should be kept out of Canada for their own good.”

The CCR is deeply concerned about the exploitation of non-citizens in Canada, and the lack of adequate measures to protect them. The CCR has prepared a proposal to protect trafficked persons, available at http://www.ccrweb.ca/traffickingproposal.html.

The CCR finds Bill C-57 problematic in a number of ways:

- The bill fails to address the root problem of the existence in Canada of jobs that humiliate and degrade workers. Work permits can only be issued by visa officers after the employer’s job offer has been validated by Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC). Why is such work available in Canada if it humiliates and degrades workers?

- Only a handful of work permits have been issued to “exotic dancers” in recent years. Parliamentary time would be better used to address the broader problem of the exploitation of non-citizens in Canada.

- The bill proposes to address the problem of exploitation by excluding people, mostly women, from Canada. It is demeaning for women to have a visa officer decide that they should be kept out of Canada for their own protection.

- The bill fails to address the situation of the most vulnerable of exploited non-citizens: those who have no valid work permit. In fact, closing the door on valid work permits may expose women to greater vulnerability by forcing them underground.

- The government’s focus on “strippers” betrays a moralistic approach. Instead of passing moral judgment, the government should work on ensuring that non-citizens’ rights are protected and that they have the freedom to make informed choices about their own lives.

The Minister’s announcement of Bill C-57 is available at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/press/07/2007-05-16.html

CIC
News release
Canada’s new government to facilitate the immigration of stateless
Vietnamese living in the Philippines

Ottawa, May 22, 2007 — The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of
Citizenship and Immigration, today announced that Canada will facilitate
the immigration of Vietnamese living in the Philippines without status
since the late 1970s through humanitarian and compassionate provisions.

“Canada’s new government will make every effort to examine the special
circumstances of this community, and to facilitate their immigration to
Canada,” said Minister Finley. “We will work with the Vietnamese Canadian
Federation to identify those still living in the Philippines without
status.”

Following the fall of Saigon in 1975, more than half a million Vietnamese
fled Vietnam, with many arriving in the Philippines. Several hundred
Vietnamese eventually remained in the Philippines because they were not
recognized as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees. A number have since immigrated to other countries, including
Canada, as part of an international effort to help them. But approximately
150 Vietnamese remain without status in the Philippines.

While this group is not considered to be in need of protection, they can
apply for humanitarian and compassionate consideration. This is a
discretionary provision under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
which allows for permanent residence to be granted on humanitarian and
compassionate grounds. Applications received by December 31, 2007, will be
considered on a priority basis. This does not guarantee acceptance. While
the goal is to facilitate the immigration of these individuals to Canada,
immigration officers must examine applications on a case-by-case basis and
use their discretion to decide whether the case warrants exemption from
the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations.

The Sudbury Star
http://www.thesudburystar.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=533615&catname=Editorial&classif =
Bill has politics written all over it
Editorial - Friday, May 18, 2007 @ 09:00

It is hard to understand why the federal Conservative government, having been in power for so little time, has decided the plight of exotic dancers needs to be pushed to the top of the national agenda.

The industry in Canada, apparently, has a shortage of workers, so immigrants are needed, but very few are actually entering the country for that purpose.

It is not possible to make an impassioned argument that a shortage of workers in the exotic dancing industry would somehow be damaging to the nation's economic health, but it is also hard to buy into Citizenship and Immigration Minister Diane Finley's bill aimed at barring foreign exotic dancers from entering Canada.

Bill C-57 would give immigration officers at foreign missions the power to refuse temporary workers thought to be at risk of exploitation.

It has the look of political opportunism, with the idea of sustaining the spectre of Liberal scandal.

Finley says the new legislation was merely a response to the previous Liberal government's scandal in which former immigration minister Judy Sgro fast-tracked immigration papers of a Romanian stripper who worked on her election campaign.

Said Finley: "The good old days of Liberal Stripper-gate will be a thing of the past."

She is also trying to play the moral card, which, on the surface, is hard to argue with.

Said Finley: "What we're trying to do here is protect vulnerable foreign workers, ones that could easily be exposed to sexual exploitation, harassment and abuse."

In 2005, after the rules were tightened up by the Liberals, 10 people were admitted into the country with temporary work permits for the purpose of working as exotic dancers.

And now the issue has somehow made it onto the national agenda.

While we cannot question Finley's stated and worthwhile intention of protecting immigrant women from being forced into prostitution, how does this bill address any problems with the exotic dancing industry?

Said Annie Temple, who operates an advocacy website for strippers: "Keeping foreign exotic dancers out of Canada will not address the issue of exploitation. If the Conservative government is truly concerned about exploitation of exotic dancers, then they should focus on ensuring health and safety standards exist at strip clubs." Fair enough.

If there are problems with the industry, address them. Simply barring foreign strippers, while leaving whatever problems exist to Canadian workers cannot be a pragmatic solution.

Finley will likely continue to paint this legislation as humanitarian gesture, but she has not made a convincing argument for the need for a new law, which will take up the time of parliamentary committees.

Bill C-57 is too half-hearted to be taken seriously and it is not an effective use of a valuable government legislative agenda.