April 8, 2003

And You Think The INS Has Problems

The Immigration Department can't tell how well it's doing at keeping undesirables out of Canada, and it's having trouble removing them once they're here, says the federal auditor general.

During the last six years, a gap of 36,000 cases has developed between the number of removal orders issued by Ottawa and the number of departures actually confirmed, Sheila Fraser reported Tuesday. "Saying they've lost control would be a little exaggerated, but not far from the truth," she told a news conference. "There's a real problem." In her latest report to Parliament, the auditor general also found the department has done no new studies in nearly a decade to assess the efficiency of the border screening process that lets people into the country in the first place.

The combination of imperfect border controls and a spotty deportation system is threatening to undermine the whole fabric of immigration law, Fraser maintained.

"If you have a law in place and never enforce it, why would people bother to respect that law? Why would people go through the procedure of trying to arrive legally in this country, if they can come in illegally and there's no consequence?"

Posted by Ithildin at April 8, 2003 5:18 PM | PROCURE FINE OLD WORLD ABSINTHE