Family paid smugglers to reunite after separation by CBSA at Quebec border

2025/08/19 Leave a comment

Does appear to be an unnecessary disconnect:

A Haitian family was separated at the Quebec-U.S. border this spring due to what an immigration lawyer calls a “legal glitch” some fear could become a wider problem as more migrants flee the United States into Canada. 

The family attempted to enter Canada at the official land crossing in Lacolle, Que., in March, according to immigration documents. 

After reviewing their case, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers allowed only the father in because he has a close relative in Canada. His pregnant wife and seven-year-old daughter were turned away.

Three weeks later, facing pregnancy complications, the mother paid smugglers nearly $4,000 to get herself and her daughter across the border on foot through melting snow to reunite with the father. 

“The border agent should never have separated that family,” said Paule Robitaille, a Montreal-based immigration lawyer who has been working on their case. 

Advocates and lawyers fear family separation could become more common as more migrants in the United States seek asylum in Canada through exceptions outlined in a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Canada, and border services face pressure to limit the number of arrivals. 

Smuggling only option, says father

The father says the family decided to come to Canada after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to end a humanitarian program his predecessor Joe Biden created to prevent people from Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from being deported due to turmoil in their countries. 

It’s under that program that the man’s wife and daughter arrived in the U.S. in 2024, three years after he claimed asylum there. 

CBC has agreed not to name the family due to threats the couple have faced in Haiti related to denouncing corruption and sexual violence through their work.

…Restricting access to asylum 

Typically, the close-relative exception to the STCA allows families to enter together; whichever person has the relative in Canada becomes their spouse and children’s anchor, said Maureen Silcoff, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer and former decision-maker at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). 

“People who are turned back at the border in this type of circumstance are subject to what I would call a legal glitch,” Silcoff said, referring to the Haitian family’s situation. 

She believes the glitch is an oversight in the definition of anchor relative outlined in the Safe Third Country Agreement — which doesn’t include pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA) applicants like the father. 

It’s a complicated technicality that could prevent people with valid reasons to seek protection in Canada from being able to have their cases considered, both Robitaille and Silcoff say….

Source: Family paid smugglers to reunite after separation by CBSA at Quebec border

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Coyne: A government can’t kill people for no reason? When will this judicial madness end?!

2025/08/18 Leave a comment

Valid points. Mandatory immunization provides another example:

…Nothing in the decision obliges the government to build new bicycle lanes. As such it involves no “positive rights,” which conservatives are right to oppose. It simply requires that before a government takes the extraordinary step of ordering the removal of lanes that have already been built – an action guaranteed to cost some lives and put many more in peril – it ought at least to have some basis in evidence or logic for doing so.

That’s arguable, but it’s not crazy. To be sure, ordinarily we leave the balancing of risks and returns to governments to figure out. The exception in law is where rights are involved. And of these the right to life is surely the most fundamental.

Again, let’s compare the Nova Scotia case. I don’t get to take a stroll in the woods for a couple of months, at a time of severe fire risk, versus I am put permanently at risk of getting killed, to save car drivers a couple of minutes off their route – which it won’t even do! 

These are the sorts of distinctions conservatives used to be able to make without difficulty. What happened?

Source: A government can’t kill people for no reason? When will this judicial madness end?!

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Ottawa has duty to ensure welfare of Canadians in ICE custody, advocates say

2025/08/16 Leave a comment

Valid question but government always faces such criticism with respect to consular services:

The growing number of Canadian citizens detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is disturbing and raises questions about whether Ottawa is doing enough to ensure the well-being of Canadians in custody, experts say, after revelations that Canadian children as young as two years old have been held for weeks in immigration detention this year….

Julia Sande, a lawyer with Amnesty International Canada’s English-speaking section, said The Globe’s findings are “horrifying and deeply disturbing.” She said the Canadian government’s comments are cause for significant concern.

“What does due process look like for a toddler?” she said. “Canada can say it can’t interfere in other countries, but what steps is Canada taking to ensure that its citizens, including its toddler citizens’ rights are being upheld?” she said….

Sharry Aiken, a professor at Queen’s University Faculty of Law, said the use of immigration detention in the U.S. has long been concerning, but the Trump administration has introduced a “dramatic intensification” of the practice. 

That includes detaining long-time residents of the United States.

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of public affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, had told The Globe in a statement that: “Allegations of subprime conditions at these facilities are FALSE.” …

Ottawa human-rights lawyer Paul Champ said that although there may be standards on paper, consular assistance for Canadian detainees abroad is, in his experience representing Canadians detained abroad, inconsistent, opaque and influenced by the politics between the two countries in question.

“These reports of the conditions of confinement are quite appalling, and Canada should be seriously concerned about that and taking action,” he said….

Source: Ottawa has duty to ensure welfare of Canadians in ICE custody, advocates say

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Globe editorial: Cheap excuses for betraying free speech, Lederman

2025/08/16 Leave a comment

Agreed:

…The other disturbing commonality is that officials are failing to reflexively protect the invaluable right to freedom of artistic and political expression in Canada.

We have no doubt that if noisy protesters demanded the withdrawal of a TIFF movie because of its glorification of violence, TIFF officials would be the first to stand up for the filmmaker’s right to artistic expression. 

But when it comes to telling stories or singing songs that some deem offensive, that reflex has been replaced by a knee-jerk run for cover.

This is an alarming development in Canada. In difficult times, we need people in positions of authority to stand up for freedom of expression – not look for excuses to abandon it. That never ends well for anyone.

Source: Cheap excuses for betraying free speech

And Marsha Lederman’s take, TIFF’s latest censorship controversy is more than just a tiff. It’s existential:

…All of this has created not just chasms in the arts community and a chill on artistic expression, but a disincentive for organizations considering ponying up to support the arts. You want your brand associated with something positive and meaningful: a literary prize, a film festival, maybe a theatre festival that claims to push the boundaries. (Vancouver’s PuSh International Performing Arts Festival also caved to dissenters, cancelling the Canadian play The Runner last year.) But shell out money to get embroiled in this? In this economy?

The arts are in trouble and need corporate support. The world is in trouble and needs art to guide and inform, and artists who help us understand the issues and inspire us to be brave and fight for what’s right.

Which is something TIFF should be doing.



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Un an plus tard, certaines «communautés francophones accueillantes» hors Québec ne sont pas encore en place

2025/08/16 Leave a comment

Of note. Has drawn criticism given dilution of Express Entry CRS along with other speciality draws:

L’expansion du réseau des communautés francophones accueillantes devait donner un coup d’accélérateur à l’intégration des nouveaux arrivants francophones à l’extérieur du Québec. Un an plus tard, des dix nouvelles communautés désignées, quatre n’ont toujours pas officiellement lancé leurs programmes en la matière.

Une CFA, c’est un endroit pointé par le fédéral comme une région toute désignée pour accueillir des immigrants qui veulent obtenir, dès leur arrivée au Canada, des services en français, sans nécessairement s’installer au Québec.

Parfois, « les personnes ont des projets d’immigration au Canada sans avoir une idée précise d’où ils désirent s’installer », explique Benjamin Mulaji Mukadi, coordonnateur de la CFA de Cornwall (Ontario). Les CFA agissent alors à titre de guides. Mais leur mandat va au-delà de cet accueil initial. Les CFA visent aussi à offrir aux nouveaux arrivants une gamme de services adaptés, comme le soutien à la recherche de logement et d’emploi, l’accompagnement scolaire pour les enfants, des activités communautaires en français et des occasions de réseautage.

Leur objectif est donc double : faciliter l’intégration dès les premiers mois, mais aussi inciter les familles à s’établir durablement dans des régions moins connues, plutôt que dans de grands centres urbains, comme Toronto ou Vancouver, pour ainsi renforcer la présence francophone un peu partout au pays.

24 CFA au pays

Il y a un an, Marc Miller a annoncé qu’en plus des 14 « communautés francophones accueillantes » déjà en activité dans le cadre d’un projet pilote, 10 autres municipalités allaient recevoir des fonds pour établir une structure d’accueil propre à l’immigration francophone. Il a alors nommé Nanaimo, Rivière-Rouge, Chéticamp, Belle-Baie, Caraquet, la région de Restigouche-Ouest, Prince Albert, Cornwall, le district de Cochrane et London comme nouvelles CFA.

Depuis, six d’entre elles ont officiellement lancé leurs programmes. Elles ont des pages Web, elles offrent des services avant et après l’installation des immigrants chez eux et elles organisent régulièrement des activités. Parmi elles, les CFA de Prince Albert (Saskatchewan) et de Cornwall ont donné le coup d’envoi de leurs activités à la fin juin, ce qui marquait la fin de plusieurs mois de préparation et la mise en place d’outils concrets dans leurs régions respectives, ont-elles relaté au Devoir.

Quatre autres communautés, elles, sont encore en phase de préparation : Rivière-Rouge (Manitoba), la région de Restigouche-Ouest (Nouveau-Brunswick), le district de Cochrane (Ontario) et London (Ontario). Officiellement désignées comme CFA il y a un an, elles n’ont toutefois pas encore lancé leurs programmes ni commencé à offrir de services.

Dans chacune de ces communautés, la mise en place d’une équipe, la conclusion de partenariats locaux et la planification des premières activités sont toujours en cours. Les acteurs impliqués affirment vouloir prendre le temps nécessaire pour bâtir des structures solides, capables de soutenir l’intégration francophone sur le long terme. Ils prévoient des lancements très prochainement.

Francophonie canadienne

L’annonce d’août dernier s’inscrivait dans l’effort du gouvernement libéral d’encourager l’immigration francophone hors Québec. L’objectif était alors d’octroyer 6 % des résidences permanentes à des personnes dont le français est la première langue officielle. Depuis, cette cible a évolué, Mark Carney ayant notamment lancé en campagne électorale vouloir atteindre 12 % d’immigration francophone hors Québec d’ici 2029. Cet objectif a ensuite été repris par la nouvelle ministre fédérale de l’Immigration, Lena Metlege Diab.

Ces politiques font partie d’une stratégie à long terme visant à stabiliser, voire à faire croître, le poids démographique des communautés francophones en milieu minoritaire, affirme le gouvernement fédéral. Les prochains mois devraient donc montrer si le déploiement des nouvelles CFA suivra le rythme nécessaire à l’atteinte des cibles souhaitées par Ottawa.

Source: Un an plus tard, certaines «communautés francophones accueillantes» hors Québec ne sont pas encore en place

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Former justice minister Irwin Cotler calls on Israel to end war, starvation in Gaza

2025/08/16 Leave a comment

Better late than never:

Former Liberal justice minister Irwin Cotler has joined thousands of Jews calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war and starvation in Gaza.

The longtime human rights activist is a staunch supporter of Israel and has faced death threats from Iran over his support for the Jewish state and democracy worldwide. He has signed an open letter saying Netanyahu is jeopardizing peace at home and abroad.

“The policies and rhetoric of the government you lead are doing lasting damage to Israel, its standing in the world and the prospects of secure peace for all Israelis and Palestinians,” the letter reads.

“This has severe consequences for Israel but also for the well-being, security and unity of Jewish communities around the world.”

The letter, organized by a group called the London Initiative, calls Israel’s aid restrictions on Gaza “a moral and strategic disaster” that hands a “propaganda victory to Hamas” and undermines the important work of countering Hamas and Iran.

“We do not deny the despicable role of Hamas in stealing aid and preventing its distribution, but nor can we reject the evidence of our eyes and ears as to the extent of the human suffering and the role of your government’s policies in it,” the signatories argue.

The letter also calls out Israel’s failure to suppress settler violence, which it says has helped fuel the current “diplomatic tsunami” of criticism from Israel’s historical peers.

“If Israel’s military, when given the bold order by you, can send a missile through a window in Tehran to take out an Iranian general with unerring accuracy, it surely has the ability to maintain order in the West Bank, prevent Jewish extremist violence, protect Palestinian civilians and apply the law,” the letter says.

The letter also calls out rhetoric used by Netanyahu’s cabinet ministers that it describes as “a moral abomination and a chilul hashem — a desecration of Jewish values and Israel’s founding principles.”

It cites the example of Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, who said his government is “erasing Gaza” and that the territory will be entirely Jewish.

Netanyahu governs with a coalition that includes Jewish supremacist parties which have cited religion to advocate for policies widely seen as ethnic cleansing.

“Members of your government have used language of racism, hatred and incitement without censure,” the letter reads.

“Any opportunity to release all the hostages must be seized, and prioritized above appeasing extremist members of your coalition.”

The letter warns that this “language of incitement” erodes efforts to strengthen Jews’ ties to Israel and is “undermining Jewish communities as we face a surge in antisemitic, antizionist hate.”

The letter was also signed by Canadian philanthropist Charles Bronfman, one of the founders of the Birthright program, which sends Jewish youth on trips to Israel.

Its listed signatories also include prominent Canadian professors and volunteers with projects like the New Israel Fund and the Herzl Project, though it notes that the signatories are speaking as individuals and not on behalf of their institutions.

Netanyahu does not appear to have responded directly to the letter since it was made public a week ago, though he defended the war on Sunday, saying Israel’s only choice is to completely defeat Hamas.

Source: Former justice minister Irwin Cotler calls on Israel to end war, starvation in Gaza

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Yakabuski – It’s official: The Supreme Court’s ruling on Bill 21 will be one for the ages

2025/08/15 Leave a comment

Indeed:

…Nevertheless, the fact that two provincial appeal courts have now come to contradictory decisions touching on the judicial review of laws shielded by the notwithstanding clause means the Supreme Court must inevitably settle the issue. 

Its ruling on Bill 21 will hence carry widespread implications for governments across Canada, either freeing them to employ the notwithstanding clause with impunity, or subjecting them to potential rebuke – in the form of judicial declarations – if they invoke Section 33.

It remains unclear whether the Supreme Court will render its decision before Quebeckers go to the polls next year. Even so, with the Parti Québécois seeking to build on its momentum after another decisive by-election win this week, the Supreme Court case on Bill 21 will figure prominently in the sovereigntist party’s campaign pitch to francophone voters. PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said the Supreme Court’s move to grant leave to appeal to Bill 21’s opponents “confirms to us that the federal regime is determined to combat Quebeckers’ democratic choices.” 

How much will the top court take into consideration a potential political backlash in Quebec in determining whether to overturn the Quebec Court of Appeal’s ruling on Bill 21? With the PQ on track for a stunning comeback in the 2026 vote, increasing the likelihood of another sovereignty referendum by 2030, the question has to be on the judges’ minds. 

Source: It’s official: The Supreme Court’s ruling on Bill 21 will be one for the ages

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French: Why a ‘Paleo-Confederate’ Pastor Is on the Rise

2025/08/15 Leave a comment

Depressing:

…This should tell us that white evangelical support for Republicans is far more cultural and tribal than it is ideological or (certainly) theological. As Ryan Burge, one of the nation’s foremost statisticians of American religions, has said, white evangelicals “vote for Trump because white evangelicals are Republicans, and Donald Trump is the standard-bearer of the G.O.P.”

As a practical matter, this reality puts the Republican nominee at the center of white evangelical politics. And if he wins, he instantly becomes the most influential political thinker in evangelical America, and his political ideology and temperament become the political ideology and temperament of millions of American evangelicals.

When you live in evangelical America (especially in the South), you experience the sheer power of its culture up close. It’s theologically tolerant and politically intolerant. You can believe many different things about matters as important as baptism, salvation and the role of women in your denomination.

But if you leave the Republican Party, much less publicly criticize Trump? Well, you’ll quickly find that political orthodoxy matters more than you could possibly imagine.

Do you want to know the cultural and political future of American evangelicalism, including the cultural and political future of men like Wilson? When the white smoke rises from Super Tuesday, the Republican Party won’t just choose a new political leader, evangelicals will choose their next political pope, the single-most-influential person in the church.

We should pray fervently that he or she is a better person than Donald Trump.

Source: Why a ‘Paleo-Confederate’ Pastor Is on the Rise

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Nearly 150 Canadians held in ICE custody this year, including two toddlers, data show 

2025/08/15 Leave a comment

Sigh…

At least two Canadian toddlers have been held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody this year, including one who was detained for 51 days, more than double the legal detention period for migrant children in the United States, a Globe and Mail analysis of American enforcement data shows.

The children, who are under the age of four, were both detained at a remote Texas facility that has been the subject of a legal complaint alleging inadequate access to safe drinking water, medical care and legal assistance. At the time of detention, they appear to have been accompanied by adults who were also apprehended.

The toddlers are among 149 Canadians ranging between two and 77 years old who have been held at some point in ICE custody since January, when President Donald Trump took office and ordered an expansive immigration crackdown.

The anonymized ICE data are current to the end of July and disclose details about thousands of detention cases dating back to 2023, including detainees’ nationality, year of birth, time in custody and the reason for the detention. The information was obtained through a federal district-court lawsuit against ICE brought by the Deportation Data Project, which is run by a group of academics and lawyers in the U.S. 

Mr. Trump’s mass deportation campaign has focused heavily on immigrants from Latin America, raising significant concerns about due process – particularly for those at risk of removal to unsafe countries. 

The data set analyzed by The Globe provides the clearest picture yet of the degree to which Canadians have also been caught up in the White House’s efforts. As of the end of July, 56 Canadians arrested this year were still in ICE detention, the analysis shows. Overall, the number of Canadians detained is on pace to double that of last year. …

Source: Nearly 150 Canadians held in ICE custody this year, including two toddlers, data show

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Trump Administration Scraps Research Into Health Disparities

2025/08/15 Leave a comment

Another example of wilful ignorance:

The federal government has for decades invested vigorously in research aimed at narrowing the health gaps between racial and socioeconomic groups, pouring billions of dollars into understanding why minority and low-income Americans have shorter lives and suffer higher rates of illnesses like cancer and heart disease.

Spending on so-called health disparities rose even during the Trump administration’s first term. But in its second, much of the funding has come to a sudden halt.

Following a series of executive orders prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion policies at every level of the federal government, the National Institutes of Health this year began terminating initiatives that officials said smacked of identity politics and offered dubious benefits.

“Spending billions on divisive, politically driven D.E.I. initiatives that don’t deliver results is not just bad health policy — it’s bad government,” said a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services.

The N.I.H will invest in projects that support “all vulnerable populations,” and expand participation “based on clinical need — not identity,” she added. She declined to be identified.

In letters from the N.I.H., scientists were told that their projects were canceled because they “harm the health of Americans,” “provide a low return on investment,” or “do not enhance health, lengthen life, or reduce illness.”

“The communication is very clear: We do not value health equity, we do not value a focus on underserved and under-treated populations, we do not consider these to be a priority,” said Dr. Kemi Doll, a cancer specialist at the University of Washington School of Medicine, who coaches younger researchers from minority backgrounds.

In interviews, many scientists whose work depends on N.I.H. grants described the terminations as harrowing and bewildering. Many felt their research was not evaluated on its merits, but nixed because words like “race” or “gender” were in the project’s title or description.

According to an analysis of federal data by The New York Times, as of mid-June the N.I.H. had terminated at least 616 projects focused on closing the health divide between Black and white, and rich and poor, Americans….

Source: Trump Administration Scraps Research Into Health Disparities

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