# Canada terrorist-friendly: study



## Pikache (16 Feb 2004)

http://www.canada.com/national/story.asp?id=0F830434-9196-46ED-8C70-EB87727BE187 

Analysis by u.s. library of congress. But Canadian rights experts dispute findings, warn that report will promote racism

GREG McARTHUR  
CanWest News Service 


Monday, February 16, 2004
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Canada‘s immigration laws and social programs have helped make the country a hotbed for terrorists and organized criminals, a recently released report by the U.S. Library of Congress claims.

Rights enshrined in Canada‘s Constitution, such as protection against unreasonable search and seizure, and the country‘s generous social-welfare system have made it "a favoured destination for terrorists and international organized crime groups," says the report, which is titled Nations Hospitable to Organized Crime and Terrorism.

Canada‘s "well-deserved reputation as a protector of human rights, including the rights of non-citizens who are entering or leaving the country," has helped promote "the presence of criminal and terrorist groups and individuals," the 234-page report says.

But the report, which was completed in October and issued this month by the congressional library‘s federal research division under an arrangement with the Central Intelligence, Crime and Narcotics Centre, has been denounced by Canadian immigration and crime experts as misguided, shoddy and biased.

The report helps "fuel xenophobia and fuel racism," says a Canadian refugee expert.

"It never ceases to amaze me at how quickly American lawmakers will point their fingers at Canada," said Sharryn Aiken, a Queen‘s University law professor and past president of the Canadian Council for Refugees. "These are serious issues, but let‘s not blame the immigration program."

Citing government studies, intelligence reports, newspaper stories, interviews and academic articles, the report‘s authors highlight contributing factors, such as the ease with which individuals claiming refugee status are released without supervision and illegal aliens‘ chances of gaining asylum in Canada.

But Margaret Beare, director of the Nathanson Centre for the Study of Organized Crime and Corruption at York University, said there is no evidence to suggest newcomers to Canada are more prone to crime. Refugees and illegal immigrants are the least likely to engage in criminal activity because they don‘t want to risk deportation, she said.

"The year before last the RCMP told the United Nations our No. 1 problem is bikers," said Beare, referring to a 2002 report. There is only one reference to domestic motorcycle gangs in the U.S. report, but two pages are devoted to such ethnic groups as British Columbia‘s Chinese Big Circle Boys and the Lotus group, as well as organized criminals from Eastern Europe.

Beare also called the research behind the report "infuriating," saying that speeches given by CSIS director Ward Elcock in 1999 don‘t offer an accurate picture of Canada today. "They‘re quoting people who have an agenda," she said.

Janet Dench of the Canadian Council for Refugees said the report is more "chilling" because of Prime Minister Paul Martin‘s vow to improve U.S.-Canada relations. "The report suggest the less human rights people have, the more security they enjoy."

An aide to Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan said Canada has areas it needs to work on to fight terrorism, but so does every country. "The issues that we have to deal with are pretty common ones globally," said Alex Swann.

© Copyright  2004 Montreal Gazette


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## NMPeters (16 Feb 2004)

Interesting concept. I‘m not saying that our immigration laws are the greatest, but didn‘t the hijackers of the 9/11 tragedy live in Florida for a year or two?


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## Ex-Dragoon (16 Feb 2004)

That fact is always forgotten about though.


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## Bruce Monkhouse (16 Feb 2004)

Not just lived but trained to do their evil deeds there also.


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## wongskc (16 Feb 2004)

It‘s election year.  I‘d bet someone want‘s to divert attention from some other more inflammatory issue.  What‘s that song... Oh, right "Blame Canada, Blame Canada..."


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## Padraig OCinnead (17 Feb 2004)

That‘s right. Not one of these clowns entered through Canada. They didn‘t learn to fly in Saskatoon. They didn‘t take off from Hamilton in jumbo jets. There is only one border that you can cross into Canada, that‘s right the 49th parallel. Unless they came over the North Pole or paddled over from Saudi Arabia. Of all the people crossing from Central and Southern America in USA there could very have been a Bin Laden or two.


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## stukirkpatrick (17 Feb 2004)

> how about some French Terrorists, say what were they called? The FLQ?


Hey!  the FLQ were a different situation altogether.  Those are our own home-grown terrorists, not imported from anywhere else.    ;P  

And in an attempt to deal with them, PM Trudeau called out the War Measures Act, in peacetime, a decision still being debated today, and one which many people were not happy with.  This is the extreme sort of action we could take, martial law, and it would be difficult for the public to accept the denial of their rights...

*stupid sociology class, get out of my head!  This is my week off!*   :crybaby:


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## Padraig OCinnead (17 Feb 2004)

It‘s so full of loopholes it‘s makes swiss cheese look solid. Heaven forbid we upset someone trying to illegally sneak into Canada to enjoy our cradle to grave social support system. The special interests people would be out of a job.
Refugee status is an idea from a bygone era where refugees were legitimate and not cowards bombing people from Canada and US.

You are right S_Baker we do need to have an honest hard look at our policy but short of erecting a wall around us (then dealing with sleeper cells at 2 a.m. door crashing visits) I think we might be trying to catch wind with a fishing net.


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## Padraig OCinnead (17 Feb 2004)

By the way I thought the Conan skit was good for what it was worth. It‘s just some folks can laugh wholeheartedly at others but not themsleves. I won‘t laugh when he targets white Canadian/Irish/Cree 35 yr old fathers with 15 yrs in uniform who own chocolate labs. Even though the Irish love to mock themselves.

Slainte,


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## Richie (17 Feb 2004)

Canada should put a five year moratorium on immigration so that we can see who we have in this country, how they got here and what they are doing. There will always be refugees (economic or otherwise) that want in, they can wait...social engineering is a serious matter and should not be left to government bureaucrats and Liberal Party flunkies.


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## pte anthony (17 Feb 2004)

FLQ is not a different situation terrorists are terrorists so what if they are home grown the fact of the matter is that our country is so passive on the terrorist situation that we make a perfect safe haven for sleeper cells. The terrorists here are likely generating revenue through drugs and business fronts to finance operations that yes may be carried out by those who live in the United States. We cant just say they entered from another place as if we have nothing within our borders that is contributing to the situation. I believe our immigration policy and the search for terrorists and their assets should dramatically tighten.   :soldier:


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