By Ally Dunham
Tourism outfitters and associations across the region are celebrating a federal decision that will give personnel at the Canadian/U.S. border more options in admitting visitors to Canada.
Kenora MP, Greg Rickford played a key role in pushing for the new policy, announced Feb. 10 by Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney.
Beginning March 1, the new policy will allow individuals with only one minor conviction, no matter what the date of conviction, to cross the border at no cost.
“Greg (Rickford) and others have asked that we look at the policy to see how its application could be relaxed,” said Kenney during a public conference. “I am pleased to announce today that I have signed what’s called a special public policy under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act which will come into effect on March 1, instructing our border officers to grant Temporary Resident Permits (TRP) to foreign nationals who are inadmissible due to minor criminal convictions.”
Kenney says that would include individuals with an indictable offence with a sentence of less than six months.
“Our laws on inadmissibility are strict, they always have been, but this became much more of an acute problem starting several years ago because in the post 9/11 environment, Canada and the United States started a much more systematic sharing of information on criminal databases. So starting a few years ago, a lot of Americans who had previously no problems crossing the border, their minor criminal convictions were suddenly appearing in our computer systems when we swiped their passports,” said Kenney.
“Under this order that I have made, at a port of entry, in the vast majority of cases, they will no longer have to go through the lengthy, costly process of applying for a TRP, rather the CBSA (Canadian Border Services Agency) officer will, in the vast majority of cases, simply issue, without a fee, the permit that overcomes inadmissibility,” said Kenney.
“Under our legislative framework, the border officers have delegated authority to make the final decisions on admissibility, so we don’t want to suggest to our visitors that every one of them is going to get a pass into Canada. It’s going to depend on the circumstances, the nature of the offence, how long the sentence was, its gravity, and whether they’ve been forthright with the border officers,” said Kenney.
The tourism industry has suffered for some time from this issue, and many tourist camp operators and tourism association representatives expressed their deep gratitude at the changes taking place in the policy.
“With the interim solution that has been presented, we really need to thank Greg Rickford and his staff for their efforts in addressing our industry’s concerns,” said Jacqui Haukness, President of the Kenora District Camp Owners Association. “It’s a first step in rebuilding our industry, but realistically, I think it will take time to rebuild visitor confidence in approaching the border and making them feel welcome in Canada.”
“I think the changes are great, fantastic. I feel like I won the lottery,” said Eric Brown Sr., President of Totem Lodges. “There could always be more done, but I think it’s a great start. I’d say 75 to 80 per cent of our guests (refused entry) were one time, single offenders.”
There is some discussion regarding offenders who have more than one offence on their record, and Brown uses an example of a guest who was involved in a barroom brawl when they were 18, and then received a DUI at age 40.
“There are people who are multi-misdemeanor offenders that aren’t criminals that we should keep out, and each situation is specific. I don”t know how best to address that,” said Brown.
Doug Reynolds, Executive Director for Nature and Outdoor Tourism Ontario (NOTO) expressed gratitude for the policy change as a whole, but still has misgivings about the details.
“There were a couple of assurances given on the call that we will receive something in writing, or at least a link to something in writing so we can see exactly what’s been changed. I’m very encouraged, the fact that they spent this much attention on this issue is really good news, but the devil is always in the details,” said Reynolds. “Waiver of the TRP fee would be really good news, but exactly what form the clarification will be on when someone who shows minor criminality will be admitted, and how that differs from the current status quo, I”m not precisely sure.”
Reynolds says he is concerned that the new policy will not apply to people with multiple convictions.
“I field, during the busy season, two or three phone calls a day directly from US guests looking for advice or information, so I get a pretty good sense of the lay of the land. The majority of those calls would be from folks who have more than one DUI, generally very old,” said Reynolds.
“Should a guy that had a DUI 30 years ago, and another one 34 years ago get turned back? Absolutely not, in my opinion. But, that is the way the law is written right now, and that”s the piece that I would really like to see get fixed,” said Reynolds.
The current regulations say that if you have multiple convictions, you have to wait for five years, and then apply for the rehabilitation process. Reynolds says the current process is very convoluted and difficult.
“If you’ve got two DUI’s, you”ve got to go through this complicated process of getting all your criminal records from the US, filling out a four-page form, often getting letters of reference and other more recent stuff, and sending $200 to the Canadian government,” said Reynolds. “Officially you are told to send that to the nearest consulate. If you do that, it”s going to take them 12 to 18 months to process your paper, you won”t be able to get questions answered, and it”s a very badly broken system by all accounts.”
Reynolds suggests that the government should implement staff to process all applications at a higher pace, and make the system easier for the average person.
“The biggest problem is the system for processing these rehabs is broken, so if we’re not going to get rid of the process, at least fix it so people can make it work. That is the biggest shortcoming,” said Reynolds. “If somebody indicates a willingness to go through the steps to fix this, it’s really difficult and time consuming for them to do it and we should make it a whole lot easier. Especially if we’re going to pick their pockets for $200 for the process.”
“People are justifiably excited about this, and I don’t blame them. The fact that the Minister cared enough to hold this call indicates the issue is being taken very seriously,” said Reynolds. “He (Minister Kenney) gave pretty strong indications that this was some interim measure, that he was eager for feedback from those of us who are stakeholders on what work still needs to be done.”
