Canadian police, who certainly have enough to worry about dealing with homegrown criminals, shouldn't also have to be spending their time and resources chasing after foreign criminals who set up shop in Alberta and other provinces.
As things stand today, foreign criminals, including violent offenders, can spend months and even years fighting extradition to their home countries, all the while costing taxpayers countless dollars in policing, court and jail expenses.
Ask any law-abiding West Central Alberta resident if he or she is happy about paying to keep foreign criminals here in Canada any longer than absolutely necessary and the answer would most probably be a resounding no.
In an effort to address the situation, and hopefully send more foreign criminals on their way, the Harper government has introduced new legislation it says will speed up the process of kicking foreign criminals out of Canada with much more haste.
If passed the ‘Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act' would make it easier for the government to remove dangerous foreign criminals from Canada, make it harder for those who may pose a risk to Canada to enter the country in the first place, and remove barriers for genuine visitors who want to come to Canada.
“We have introduced a law that will stop foreign criminals relying on endless appeals in order to delay their removal from Canada during which time they continue to terrorize innocent Canadians,” said Minister of Citizenship Jason Kenney.
“Canadians are generous and welcoming people, but they have no tolerance for criminals and fraudsters abusing our generosity.”
The act would markedly cut down a convicted foreign criminal's access to the Immigration and Refugee Board's Immigration Appeal Division, reducing the amount of time certain criminals can remain in Canada by up to 14 months, he says.
As well, the new act would ensure that foreign nationals who are inadmissible to Canada for reasons such as human or international rights violations or being linked to organized crime, would no longer be able to unduly delay deportation.
While Albertans wouldn't be in favour of measures that would unfairly restrict immigration to Canada by law-abiding citizens of foreign countries, the same can't be said for non-Canadian criminals.
“These measures are tough but fair,” says Minister Kenney. “We want an immigration system that is open to genuine visitors, while at the same time prevents the entry of foreign criminals and denies them the ability to endlessly abuse our generosity.”
Giving the boot to foreign criminals is in everyone's best interest. As such, all MPs are encouraged to pass this new legislation without delay.
