Canada is a country full of immigrants. From the folks who crossed the Bering Strait way back when to the loads of Europeans who hopped on boats and took the perilous journey to the east coast to the Chinese, Japanese, Indians and so forth that took boats and what not to get to the west coast, Canada is a country built on immigration. I am one such immigrant. And I am a very proud one at that. I can happily say that I am Canadian and not worry one bit about whether someone would have a hard time (at least in Canada) believing that to be the case in spite of the colour of my skin, the lack of knowledge as far as things like touchdowns or Kardashians go... and in spite of any accent I may have. That is what makes Canada so unique, so beautiful. We welcome all sorts of people. Rich ones, poor ones, light ones, dark ones... it runs the gamut. We even welcome war criminals and refugees. Mind you, if we catch you (as a war criminal), we are sticking you in prison.
And so we come to Burnaby. My entire life in Canada has been spent in Burnaby. That's about 10 years. Burnaby is adjacent to Vancouver and is, as far as I am concerned, the best part of the GVRD... you're not cramped like in the city, you don't have to cross any bridges to get into the city... and there's damn good food everywhere. A while after I moved there, this Russian family moved there too... the Lennikovs. Mikhail came with his wife Irina who had a student visa, they had a kid named Dmitiri with them too. Typical Russian family, typical Russian names and so on. Now, I don't know these people in case you were wondering. Back to the story. Turns out that Mikhail used to work for some interesting people back in Russia... when it was the USSR. He worked for this organisation called the KGB as a translator.
Shocked? Well, wait, it gets better. Mikhail let Immigration Canada know about his former employers. They didn't seem to have issues with him when they waved him in. Fast forward many years, and like most immigrants to Canada, they apply for permanent resident status. Now, people start freaking out. Because he apparently worked for the KGB. He was deemed a security threat because of his former job and has to leave. In Canada... there is an appeals process for everything.
For the most part, we are very nice about giving anyone what they want. You as a dude want to marry another dude? No worries. You as an immigrant want to avoid bombs and shit in Kosovo? No worries, come on over. Just remember to be yourself... put up with the cold, and oh yeah, try to like hockey, eh? Seriously, that's about all that is about all we ask for. We don't ask you to thump your chest and scream your allegience to Canada or to Her Majesty. Or to serve in the military or to change your name to John because Rahim is uncomfortable for us (though you might get a better job if your name sounded more Canadian). We don't ask you to speak English or French. You want to take your driver's licence test in Punjabi? Sure, lets do that. We don't care. We love differences amongst ourselves. That's what makes us Canadian. We are a bunch of different people who live in (relative) harmony, try and eek a decent living, enjoy each other's food, hang out and in general build a better world for the rest of us. Respect our laws, call out the crazy ones and we will attempt to make them more just and accomodate you. That is Canada for you.
The Lennikovs would fit right in. They are the epitome of the Canadian immigrant. Hard working people with knowledge. Except you see, one of them worked for a rather well known external intelligence agency. The part where I get lost is when they appeal to stay... the people in charge say no because the man worked for the KGB. If you have evidence as to why this man cannot live in Canada and must be kicked out of the country for good, we want to know what that is. Was he killing people? Was he doing something against the interests of Canada? Was he responsible for some horrible crime? We want to know. Because, if he was, our collective conscience is not hurt by the fact that his wife and son will no longer be able to live with him in Canada with the rest of us. But if he hasn't and you're deporting him only because of his former employer and the fact that he was honest about it... then that's just plain stupid.
I understand that there are national security reasons to not widely publish evidence. But you got to give the man a chance to see the evidence against him and argue his case, even if it is under a gag order, no? What is it that makes it okay for us to send this man back to Russia and god knows, maybe get his nuts cut off for defecting? Maybe that won't happen. If he really wasn't that important... he's just going to have a hard time meeting his family again once he's back in Russia. I'll tell you this much, that kid is going to be in trouble if he had been deported to Russia. They would have drafted him into the military and god knows what sorts of shit he would have to go through. I have Russian friends who won't go to Russia because of that fear. I have Persian friends who have the same fear. Its sad really. I can return to India any day and the worst thing I will have to endure aside from the heat and humidity is probably every person I meet asking me when I'm getting married. And the Indian Army would probably scoff at my portly self and say, please bugger off in perfect English :). At any rate, the mother and the son can stay. But he cannot.
I don't get why this man cannot stay in Canada. I think its cruel to deny that family their father and husband. If he's a threat, lets neutralise it. Lets prove it out in a court of law, lets establish beyond a shadow of doubt that he is indeed a risk to Canada because he was a spy or maybe still _is_ a spy. But lets do our due dilligence. Instead of trying to ship him off at 3 in the morning to St. Petersburg. Thankfully, a lot of the public think he should stay in Canada and a church has allowed him to claim sanctuary inside. I don't think such laws are inviolable, but I am heartened to see that the Immigration folks won't enter the Church and drag him out. The right thing to do in this case is to either prove that he is indeed a threat in a forum where we as Canadians are satisfied that he is indeed a threat... or drop the deportation order and let the man get back to living. Being stuck in a Church in Canada is a LOT better than being stuck a continent apart from your family, permanently exiled... but he is not a free man... and we have imprisoned him without a trial and a right to a fair defence. That's not my Canada. Dear minister of public safety, please correct this, will you?
And so we come to Burnaby. My entire life in Canada has been spent in Burnaby. That's about 10 years. Burnaby is adjacent to Vancouver and is, as far as I am concerned, the best part of the GVRD... you're not cramped like in the city, you don't have to cross any bridges to get into the city... and there's damn good food everywhere. A while after I moved there, this Russian family moved there too... the Lennikovs. Mikhail came with his wife Irina who had a student visa, they had a kid named Dmitiri with them too. Typical Russian family, typical Russian names and so on. Now, I don't know these people in case you were wondering. Back to the story. Turns out that Mikhail used to work for some interesting people back in Russia... when it was the USSR. He worked for this organisation called the KGB as a translator.
Shocked? Well, wait, it gets better. Mikhail let Immigration Canada know about his former employers. They didn't seem to have issues with him when they waved him in. Fast forward many years, and like most immigrants to Canada, they apply for permanent resident status. Now, people start freaking out. Because he apparently worked for the KGB. He was deemed a security threat because of his former job and has to leave. In Canada... there is an appeals process for everything.
For the most part, we are very nice about giving anyone what they want. You as a dude want to marry another dude? No worries. You as an immigrant want to avoid bombs and shit in Kosovo? No worries, come on over. Just remember to be yourself... put up with the cold, and oh yeah, try to like hockey, eh? Seriously, that's about all that is about all we ask for. We don't ask you to thump your chest and scream your allegience to Canada or to Her Majesty. Or to serve in the military or to change your name to John because Rahim is uncomfortable for us (though you might get a better job if your name sounded more Canadian). We don't ask you to speak English or French. You want to take your driver's licence test in Punjabi? Sure, lets do that. We don't care. We love differences amongst ourselves. That's what makes us Canadian. We are a bunch of different people who live in (relative) harmony, try and eek a decent living, enjoy each other's food, hang out and in general build a better world for the rest of us. Respect our laws, call out the crazy ones and we will attempt to make them more just and accomodate you. That is Canada for you.
The Lennikovs would fit right in. They are the epitome of the Canadian immigrant. Hard working people with knowledge. Except you see, one of them worked for a rather well known external intelligence agency. The part where I get lost is when they appeal to stay... the people in charge say no because the man worked for the KGB. If you have evidence as to why this man cannot live in Canada and must be kicked out of the country for good, we want to know what that is. Was he killing people? Was he doing something against the interests of Canada? Was he responsible for some horrible crime? We want to know. Because, if he was, our collective conscience is not hurt by the fact that his wife and son will no longer be able to live with him in Canada with the rest of us. But if he hasn't and you're deporting him only because of his former employer and the fact that he was honest about it... then that's just plain stupid.
I understand that there are national security reasons to not widely publish evidence. But you got to give the man a chance to see the evidence against him and argue his case, even if it is under a gag order, no? What is it that makes it okay for us to send this man back to Russia and god knows, maybe get his nuts cut off for defecting? Maybe that won't happen. If he really wasn't that important... he's just going to have a hard time meeting his family again once he's back in Russia. I'll tell you this much, that kid is going to be in trouble if he had been deported to Russia. They would have drafted him into the military and god knows what sorts of shit he would have to go through. I have Russian friends who won't go to Russia because of that fear. I have Persian friends who have the same fear. Its sad really. I can return to India any day and the worst thing I will have to endure aside from the heat and humidity is probably every person I meet asking me when I'm getting married. And the Indian Army would probably scoff at my portly self and say, please bugger off in perfect English :). At any rate, the mother and the son can stay. But he cannot.
I don't get why this man cannot stay in Canada. I think its cruel to deny that family their father and husband. If he's a threat, lets neutralise it. Lets prove it out in a court of law, lets establish beyond a shadow of doubt that he is indeed a risk to Canada because he was a spy or maybe still _is_ a spy. But lets do our due dilligence. Instead of trying to ship him off at 3 in the morning to St. Petersburg. Thankfully, a lot of the public think he should stay in Canada and a church has allowed him to claim sanctuary inside. I don't think such laws are inviolable, but I am heartened to see that the Immigration folks won't enter the Church and drag him out. The right thing to do in this case is to either prove that he is indeed a threat in a forum where we as Canadians are satisfied that he is indeed a threat... or drop the deportation order and let the man get back to living. Being stuck in a Church in Canada is a LOT better than being stuck a continent apart from your family, permanently exiled... but he is not a free man... and we have imprisoned him without a trial and a right to a fair defence. That's not my Canada. Dear minister of public safety, please correct this, will you?
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