Deport criminals faster

The legislation responds to numerous cases in recent years where dangerous offenders, who should have been deported from Canada, found loopholes to stay in the country and commit further devastating crimes

By Sarah McMaster –

Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism seeks support for the Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, which would keep Canadian families safer by closing loopholes exploited by dangerous foreign criminals to delay their deportations.

“This legislation will keep Canadians safer by expediting the removal of dangerous foreign criminals from Canadian streets, while also taking action to prevent Canada’s immigration system from being open to abuse,” Minister Kenney stated. “I urge NDP and Liberal Members of Parliament to put the protection of victims and the safety and security of law-abiding Canadians ahead of the interests of serious criminals, and support this bill and it speedy passage.”

The Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act is now moving through its third and final reading. The legislation passed on second reading, but was voted against by both opposition parties in the House of Commons.

The legislation responds to numerous cases in recent years where dangerous offenders, who should have been deported from Canada, found loopholes to stay in the country and commit further devastating crimes.

For example, just this past December, Babak Najafi-Chaghabouri of North Vancouver was sentenced to life in prison for a brutal kidnapping and hatchet murder in Chilliwack, British Columbia. Only one week before the gruesome killing, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada had granted Babak Najafi-Chaghabouri one last opportunity to stay in Canada, even though he already had a series of convictions.

Another well-known example is that of convicted drug dealer Clinton Gayle, who used a stolen gun to murder young Toronto police constable Todd Baylis in 1996 during a drug bust. Gayle had already been issued a removal order in 1991, but remained in Canada for years by abusing loopholes in the appeal process.

With the Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, dangerous foreign criminals will no longer have access to endless and redundant appeals.  A serious criminal sentenced to six months or more of imprisonment in Canada, who has already been ordered deported from Canada after extensive due process, will no longer be able to further delay his removal by appealing to the Immigration Appeal Division at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.  The legislation would also make it harder for those who pose a risk to Canada to enter the country in the first place.

This bill is supported by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the Canadian Police Association, Victims of Violence, and Immigrants for Canada, among other organizations.

“Canadians should feel confident about our immigration system – that genuine visitors are welcome but that dangerous criminals are kept out, as this legislation proposes,” stated Minister Kenney. “Canadians are generous and welcoming people, but they have no tolerance for criminals and fraudsters abusing our generosity.”