A job for Sgro's successor
National Post
Monday, December 20, 2004
Last week, five people were charged in Ottawa
with accepting bribes of up to $25,000 from Arab immigrants in exchange for
expediting their residency applications. The RCMP, which made the arrests after
a two-year investigation, reassured Canadians that "this is not a security
threat." We're inclined to trust the Mounties' judgment. But while the
migrants allegedly pencil-whipped through the system this time weren't
terrorists, the next batch might be. Immigration control is a high stakes game
in the post-9/11 world. If any of the five suspects in this scheme is ultimately
convicted, they must receive the harshest possible sentence. For the sake of
national security, those who might be tempted to let would-be terrorists into
the country in return for cash must be sent the strongest possible message.
One of the accused is Dianne Serre, an operations
manager for the Department of Citizenship and Immigration (CIC). The involvement
of a CIC official in the alleged scam, if proven, would be especially
disturbing. From fund-raising to weapons procurement to people-smuggling,
terrorists are adept at piggybacking on criminal networks to advance their
goals. If there exists a shortcut into Canada, it is only a matter of time
before the next Ahmed Ressam tries to exploit it.
Puzzling, though, has been the reaction of at
least one of Canada's official Islamic advocacy groups, the Canadian Council on
American-Islamic Relations. CAIR-CAN sees the bribery scandal as just another
plot to oppress Canadians of Arab extraction. The group says it was
"alarmed" and "shocked" that a senior CIC official
"would allegedly participate in a scheme to shamelessly exploit members of
the Muslim and Arab communities. This issue raises renewed concerns regarding
the protection of the rights of non-citizens in Canada."
But of the four other individuals implicated
along with Ms. Serre, three are Arab-Canadians, including the alleged
ringleader, Issam Dakik. If, as CAIR-CAN insists, the issue raises "renewed
concerns," it raises them first and foremost about how Arab-Canadians are
abusing Arabs from abroad. The idea that this constitutes evidence of
discrimination is absurd.
As for the the CIC, it clearly has some
housecleaning to do. This is not the first such scandal of 2004: Earlier this
year, a former Immigration and Refugee Board judge and various others were
charged with running a Quebec-based criminal organization that fixed immigration
appeal hearings in return for bribes.
Unfortunately, the current Immigration Minister,
Judy Sgro, has herself been besieged with allegations concerning favourable
treatment accorded a stripper who worked on her election campaign. Given the
airy and contradictory explanations she has provided, it is clear she is the
last person Canadians would want to charge with the task of sniffing out quid
pro quos in the immigration system. We expect that Paul Martin will have the
good sense to replace Ms. Sgro in the new year.
Mr. Martin should pick her replacement with care.
To ensure Canadian security, no less than the fair treatment of all immigration
applicants, Ms. Sgro's successor must launch a thorough overhaul of our
admission processes to ensure that bribes and political favours play no role in
decision-making.
© National Post 2004