No One Is Illegal-Toronto
It remains to be seen if Bill C-49, the newest anti-migrant bill introduced by the Harper government will become law.
Even after public condemnation by nearly a 100 healthcare and religious organizations, concerned community, refugee rights, legal advocacy and environmental groups, as well as thousands of individuals signing petitions and writing letters, the Conservative government continues to push forward this racist legislation.
With no real support anywhere for Bill C-49, Stephen Harper spins blatant lies saying, "Canadians of all ethnic backgrounds, old Canadians, new Canadians, urban Canadians, rural Canadians' want anti-human smuggling legislation". (for a partial list of organizations opposing Bill C-49, click here)
Noticing the breadth of public outcry, the Liberals, the NDP, the Green Party and Bloc Quebecois have come out in opposition to this Bill. The Liberal Party declared that Bill C-49 “masquerades as human smuggling legislation” and “does not adequately target human smugglers”, with Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff stating that the bill “[punishes] the victims, and not the criminals”.
But the opposition parties, like the Tories, have refused to define “human smuggling”.
Throughout the political jockeying and the manufactured media circus that surrounded the arrival of the Tamil migrants aboard the Ocean Lady and the MV Sun Sea, “human smuggling” has consistently been framed as an unquestioned evil, a practice that must be combated through anti-smuggling legislation and criminal punishment.
We reject this presumption.
