Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says the Conservative government will amend parts of a controversial refugee bill after criticism from refugee advocacy groups. Adrian Wyld/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Conservatives bow to pressure, amend parts of controversial refugee bill
Published On Wed, 09 May 2012

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says the Conservative government will amend parts of a controversial refugee bill after criticism from refugee advocacy groups.
Adrian Wyld/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Stephanie Levitz
The Canadian Press

OTTAWA—The Conservative government proposed amendments to a controversial new refugee bill on Wednesday, but critics say they still have major concerns with the legislation.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney admitted he was prompted to introduce some changes to Bill C-31 by months of outrage from refugee advocacy groups and Opposition critics.

“I believe it’s not right for the government to take the position that the original bill is the only option possible,” he said.

“I’m open to other reasonable ideas … and I believe the modifications are in agreement with our objectives.”

Kenney listens to his critics
The Ottawa Citizen May 11, 2012

It’s strange to praise a cabinet minister for making changes to a bill in response to the concerns of committee witnesses and his fellow parliamentarians. After all, that’s one of the things Parliament is for.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has announced several changes to Bill C-31, the Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act. Originally, the bill would have allowed Canada to detain refugees without review for up to a year if they came here as part of a “designated irregular arrival,” such as a smuggling ship. Among other amendments, Kenney has agreed to shorten that detention period to 14 days. That long detention period never made much sense, and the change is a good one.

Terror in the heartland?
A rash of attacks on Jews, pro-terrorist graffiti and schools teaching hatred of America indicate that the battle against Islamic terrorism has arrived in Alberta
Shafer Parker – May 3, 2004

In Arab countries, it is in mosques where the anti-Western education continues for adults. Though not all mosques are hives of incitement and hatred, orientalist scholars have expressed a particular concern about the ones funded by Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd. The North West Calgary Islamic Centre and Mosque on the outskirts of Calgary is one of the more than 1,500 mosques, 210 Islamic centres, 202 colleges and almost 2,000 schools for educating Muslim children around the world, financed by Saudi money, to spread the militant Wahhabi ethos worldwide. The highly respected Washington, D.C. based Foundation for the Defence of Democracies reports that Fahd is a major propagator of Wahhabism, an 18th-century fundamentalist variant of Islam that calls for spreading Islam throughout the world by means of jihad. A grade 8 Wahhabi textbook, for instance, teaches that God punishes Christians and Jews for being polytheists by turning them into apes and pigs. The hijackers who crashed planes into the World Trade Center on 9/11 were products of the Wahhabi strain of Islam, inculcated in their hatred for the West by imams preaching at mosques also funded by Saudi oil money. Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Saudi Institute, a Washington-based think tank dedicated to facilitating the advance of democracy and freedom in the kingdom, has said that in many mosques funded by Fahd, “you have a disciple of al Qaeda who is an imam.”

Richmond agent stole immigrants’ ICBC payments
By Jason Proctor CBC News Posted: May 11, 2012 11:33 AM PT Last Updated: May 11, 2012 1:33 PM PT
A B.C. provincial court judge sentenced a Richmond insurance agent to one year in jail Thursday for stealing cash from dozens of customers’ insurance payments to pay for his trips to a casino.

Ka Chun Chan, 48, preyed on Chinese immigrants with very little command of English. According to an agreed statement of facts he claimed he took the money to maintain a gambling habit.

He instructed clients to make cheques payable to him rather than to the Insurance Corporation of B.C.
‘Are they going to get the message from Mr. Chan that Canada is a corrupt place?
—Judge Ron Fratkin

The scheme began to unravel when ICBC started notifying clients their Autoplan premiums were in arrears or unpaid.

In the meantime — dozens of motorists with high-end vehicles were driving around Lower Mainland roads without insurance.

Doctors like Meb Rashid, right, are concerned that a proposed federal health policy will directly affect the medical care given to refugees in Canada. (Women's College Hospital)

Doctors demand changes to proposed refugee health policy
Ottawa plan would cut medical services to many vulnerable refugees, including victims of torture
By Maureen Brosnahan, CBC News Posted: May 11, 2012 8:12 AM ET Last Updated: May 11, 2012 11:29 AM ET
Doctors like Meb Rashid, right, are concerned that a proposed federal health policy will directly affect the medical care given to refugees in Canada. (Women’s College Hospital)

Doctors across Canada are outraged that the federal government plans to eliminate health care services for some refugee claimants and limit the care provided to others. Many are now talking about taking action to protest against the move.

The plan, introduced by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, means refugees fleeing unsafe countries would only be entitled to “urgent or essential services.” Some refugees would be denied all care, unless they have a disease such as tuberculosis, which would pose a risk to public health.

The move is scheduled to take effect at the end of next month.