Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says proposed legislation designed to crack down on human smugglers and illegal immigrants "meets our international and domestic legal obligations" and would survive a challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The proposed bill, introduced last week, contains a variety of reforms aimed at stopping ships full of migrants from arriving in Canadian waters, such as the two vessels filled with asylum-seekers that recently arrived off the coast of B.C.
In addition to increasing penalties for human smugglers, the bill gives the federal public safety minister the authority to decide whether a migrant's arrival in Canada is "irregular" and then impose tough restrictions while they are in the country.
Irregular asylum seekers could be detained for up to one year while officials assess their potential threat to public safety, and they could be put on probation for five years, during which time they would be unable to leave Canada or sponsor relatives to come here.
Also, migrants who are turned down for refugee or protected person status will no longer be able to appeal the decision at the Immigration and Refugee Board. Instead, they will be required to appeal to the Federal Court for a judicial review.
Kenney denied suggestions Sunday that the provisions in the bill violate Canadian laws, as well as international agreements with the United Nations.
"We're absolutely certain that this meets our international and domestic legal obligations, as well as our humanitarian obligation to provide protection for people who might face persecution," Kenney told CTV's Question Period.
"We would in fact provide protection and would not send back people, even illegal smuggled migrants, if they are able to demonstrate, in our legal system, that they would face persecution."
"We are confident that this complies with the Charter and our domestic and international legal obligations," Kenney added.
After the bill was introduced, immigration and refugee experts accused the government of creating a two-tiered refugee system, which breaches equality provisions in the Charter.
The Canadian Council for Refugees said last week that although the government is cracking down on human smugglers, migrants fleeing persecution will also suffer.
"Measures keeping some refugees longer in detention, denying them family reunification and restricting their freedom of movement are likely in violation of the Canadian Charter and of international human rights obligations," Wanda Yamamoto, the council's president, said in a statement. "People who are forced to flee for their lives need to be offered asylum and a warm welcome, not punished."
The council points out, for example, that the bill contravenes the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by preventing refugees from sponsoring other family members for five years, which could prevent them from reuniting with their children.
Denying refugees the freedom of movement also violates the UN's Refugee Convention, the council said.
NDP MP Paul Dewar said his party supports cracking down on humans smugglers who exploit vulnerable people. But he said the NDP is concerned about the arbitrary powers the new legislation would give to the public safety minister.
"You wonder if the way this bill is designed, if Vic Toews's own parents would have been able to arrive here," Dewar told Question Period, referring to the public safety minister. "We are very concerned that this is just politics, and the photo op we saw was more about the government trying to use this issue to gain popularity. We need to see the details."
Liberal MP Justin Trudeau said Sunday his party is concerned the bill won't survive Charter challenges, and says it will end up "unduly penalizing asylum-seekers."
But Kenney said the new legislation is needed to crack down on human smuggling operations and illegal migrants because "the laws that are on the books are not working."
"Since the last vessel arrived we saw a significant drop in Canadian public support for immigration in general and refugee protection in particular," Kenney said. "Our government cannot allow these exploitative criminal networks to continue to violate our immigration laws, undermine the fairness of our immigration system and undermine public support and confidence in that system."
