she refugee it requires adopting cks ruddier than mepose we have now to eaefend this country’s . tegrity, then so be it. Ss get on with it and rid dians of their image as ational patsies. Sea take your cuc from West ncouver- Sunshine Coast MP cowboy for a lot of off- Shore types. tock-promo man; ex- liner; full-time th talker and salesman’ warts include a lot of November 1989, when Reynolds was the Socred cnva- ronment minister. Dioxin fears gripped the land. Howe Sound's commer- cial crab fishery was closed because of pulp mill dioxin contamination. Reynolds, in true cowboy fashion, invites reporters to join him in eating Howe Sound crab. Dioxins be damned. A red flag waved at raging environmentalists. Reynolds’ style all the way. Provocative so-and-so. But the stock-promo man cum professional pol is on to something in his role as Reform party immigrazion crit- ic: Refugees. Redneck Reformer that he is, Reynolds has had the un- Canadian brass to question the country’s badly flawed refugee procedures. Good on him, say I. Those procedures are long overdue for overhaul. Reynolds, of course, was himself at the centre of a recent North Shore refugee rhubarb involving the father of “a North Vancouver man” - charged in the execution-style murder of an Iranian male in a North Vancouver movie _ house. : ACCIDENT? “sav Call DEREK A. CAVE Trial Lawyer. Get the settlement. you deserve. 925-7880 fuse His refugee claim having been turned down, he’d sought help from the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast MP Reynolds showed him the door forthwith and subse- uently bared his teeth over he sorry state of Canada’s porous refugee procedures. In a Sept. 21 News story, the Reform MP criticized an immigration system that allows “anyone to come to our bor- der, use the name refugee and get away with two to five years of being in Canada.” Committing crimes, he pointed out, makes little dif- ference to the status of new- comers. . They do a bit of jail dme and remain in the country. So now we learn from a federal report that an estimat- ed 300 modern-day war crimi- nals — murders, death squad members, torturers, etc. — have already been imported into Canada. Twice that amount could pe here in short order if we don’t wise up. Word must have leaked our about what a soft touch Canada is. In 1994, there were 17,000 refugee claimants; this year there have been 38,000 already. That, as Reynolds points out, is over 100 per day. Why the sudden buoyancy in refugee imports? Well, for a start when you arrive at Canada’s border with- out papers and claim refugee status you are allowed in, no questions asked, and required only to report to the Immigration and Refugee Board ar a later date — six months, maybe nine months down the road. By comparison, if you were to land in the U.S. without travel or identification papers — lost conveniently or other- wise in transit — you would be on the next plane out of town, so to speak. Why continue Canada’s lame approach to incoming refugees? DRAPERIES & BLINDS BY S.LAURSEN & SON a Another one of our designs, Ask about our Seniors’ discounts. For Free Estimates Phone 987-2966 Serving the North Shore for 25 years Sunday, October 72, 1997 — North Shore News — 7 Good question, Mr. Reynolds. Why nor detain anonymous refugee claimants at the coun- try’s border and establish some legitimacy of those seeking access to the country before allowing them in? Why not ensure that a pro- tessionally qualified person or body assess refugee claimants, rather than having the current politically appointed immigra- tion appeal beard assess those claimants? More good questions, Mr. Reynolds. As the Reform MP opines, just to land here, claim refugee status and be given full rights as a Canadian is wrong. Immigration Minister Lucienne Robillard, however, is aghast at such redneck rea- soning. “Not my philosophy,” she is quoted as saying. “An abuse of the system.” Could this be Lucienne in the Sky with Diamonds? Whose systema is ting abused? If you raised your hand, you would be in the same camp as most Canadians. Our system is being abused, all right. It’s being abused by charlatans, cheats and bunco artists the world over. Though the human rights feeblists might want you to believe otherwise, quaiity con trol is not a bad thing, fellow citizens. It’s what has made ths land a good place to five. But quality control bus been eroded by bungling pols who heed their political mas- ters rather than the people who elected them. If the value of a country is tabulated on how high the standards are for gaining access to it, Canada would not be worth a plugged nickel right now. And that’s in Canadian Options Kit. FOR SENIORS TURNING 69, 70 OR 71 this year, you must select an RRSP maturity option before December 31, 1997. Your options include converting to a RRIF and/or an annuity. Call today for your complimentary conversion kit. CALL 925°5S565 MIDLAND WALWYN BLUE CHEF THINKING® ™Blue Chip Thinking is a trademark of Midland Walwyn Capital inc. Member-Canadian investor Protection Fund Sponsored in part by: @ Tem leton ‘Pires ta Global foventiog HIGH GROWTH Let us help you make sure they’re in the right place. At North Shore, we’li give you our best rates, best products and best advice to help you choose investments that are right for you. We'll make it simple. 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