Immigration--How important of an election issue?

An Eye Opening Experience

Yesterday I had the privilege of engaging with a group of high school students of Roma background who fled persecution in Hungary within the last two years.  What a powerful story!  I was moved to tears by the way the students portrayed the way they were treated in Hungary.  Roma families are systematically abused in many Eastern European countries.  For example, in Hungary, ALL Roma students are placed in special education institutions.  Though they represent 10% of the population of the country, they represent 65% of students in special education!  They are never taught about their own history--a history dating back over 1000 years to a flight from S. Asia in response to persecution and oppression they were facing there.  For centuries Roma people have been subjugated to terrible oppressions.  And what a thrill it was to watch these four high school students share their story and issues with us.  And what an emotional turn when I asked them this question: "What are your dreams now that you are in Canada?  Are you encouraged to dream big?"  (I, of course, have three daughters near their age.  Their response?  We don't dare dream because we expect to be deported back to Hungary.

It got me thinking.  Did you know that just a couple years ago BEFORE the Canadian Minister of Immigration, Jason Kinney, went on record alleging "bogus refugee claims", almost 80% of asylum claims by Roma families were ACCEPTED?  After the repeated claims of the government about the Roma were made, the reversal was profound.  Today very few Roma claims are accepted.  Why?  Because Canada wants to be on good ECONOMIC terms with Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Consider another case: Refugee claimants from Columbia used to be accepted at a rate of 84%.  BUT the government of Canada recently signed a free trade agreement with Columbia.  They now claim that families facing danger in Columbia can safely move to one of a couple major cities.  BUT the truth is that these cities are NOT safe.  Families are tracked down and eliminated by drug lords.  Further, the Conservative government is seeking to remove the special status that used to be in existence for Columbia: the ability to apply for refugee status WITHIN the country.  NOW Colombian acceptance rates have dropped below 50% and are expected to drop further--all for the sake of free trade.

Finally, consider how much Jason Kinney emphasizes that he believes refugees should line up and walk through the system patiently.  He is seeking to reduce the time allowed for claims and appeals.  All these things favour people with money; people with connections; people who, in short, are not nearly as vulnerable as so many who have historically sought out our nation for refuge.

Psalm 72 ... A Canadian Legacy?

It's a little known fact that Psalm 72 lay behind the 1867 official title of Canada: "Dominion of Canada"--Dominion from sea to sea.  In 1867 this was a move to allay the fears of American manifest destiny that rejected the notion of a "kingdom" on the continent other than itself.  (Note how the Alaskan panhandle was purchased from the Russians at the exact same time as Canada negotiated its sovereignty from British rule).  Dominion had shades of meaning, but for the fathers of Confederation--men who knew their Bible--rest Psalm 72.  

John Rolston Saul calls Psalm 72 a "psalm of welfare" and, I believe, he is right.  Dominion here speaks of power.  And according to the psalm, this power was to be used for the welfare of the most vulnerable.  Notice how strong God speaks about the necessity of justice.  The respect due the king was due to the following:

 ¹²For he delivers the needy when he calls,
   the poor and him who has no helper.
¹³He has pity on the weak and the needy,
   and saves the lives of the needy.
¹⁴From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
   and precious is their blood in his sight.

At the beginning of the Psalm Solomon request:

²May he judge your people with righteousness,
   and your poor with justice!
^...
4May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
   give deliverance to the children of the needy,
   and crush the oppressor!

At the heart of so much of the criticism of the prophets to Israel and Judah was their failure PRECISELY to care for the poor and vulnerable in society.  I, for one, am deeply troubled over the way our nation has gone from being internationally celebrated for its compassion and responsiveness to refugees to where it is today, criticized by the UN for its harsh stances, witnessing a profound drop in refugee claims (30% since the Conservatives took office).

We are a wealthy nation.

We have come through the global financial crisis virtually untarnished.  

Political parties may war over who is more responsible for this--Cretien and Martin Liberals or Harper Conservatives.  

But one thing to me is clear: to him who is given much, much is expected.  

How can we sit by and allow our financial aims and priorities cloud our judgment and interfere with our sense of justice?