The news this week that Canada has imposed Visa requirements on people travelling from Mexico and the Czech Republic has triggered some real concerns in our business and tourism communities yet the federal government has had to face some hard facts about finding a balance between the free flow of travel between countries while ensuring an all-ready overburdened refugee system is not being used as a means of entering Canada illegitimately.

Mexico and the Czech Republic are currently Canada's top two source countries for asylum claims. Since 2005, the number of Mexican refugee claimants has almost tripled from about 3,400 in 2005 to more than 9,400 in 2008 when Mexicans accounted for more than 25 per cent of all refugee claims filed in Canada. Refugee claims are assessed by the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), an independent administrative tribunal. In 2008, the IRB accepted 606 refugee claims from Mexico, representing an overall acceptance rate of 11 per cent for Mexican refugee claims.

Where Czechoslovakia is concerned, the previous Liberal government first lifted the temporary resident visa requirement on the Czech Republic in April 1996. Following the lifting, approximately 1,500 claims were made in Canada by Czech nationals. In response to this, the Liberals re-imposed the visa requirement in October 1997. Following the Czech Republic’s accession to the European Union, and based on the positive findings of a country review, including a very low visa refusal rate, our government lifted the visa requirement on the Czech Republic on October 31, 2007. Nearly 3,000 claims have been filed by Czech nationals since October 2007, with over half of them in the first four months of 2009 alone. In 2006, the year before the visa was lifted, there were five asylum claims from Czech nationals.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has made it clear that our refugee system is overburdened.  "In addition to creating significant delays and spiralling new costs in our refugee program, the sheer volume of these claims is undermining our ability to help people fleeing real persecution," Mr. Kenney said.

What then is a Minister to do?  How can he ensure that the refugee system, so important to those with a legitimate need for asylum works effectively and in a timely manner? At this time the answer seems to be to free the refugee system from as many bogus claims as possible by stopping those who would abuse the system before they enter Canada.

In terms of foreign workers, the Government is taking steps to ensure that the flow of foreign workers is not disrupted.   The Government recognizes that Mexican seasonal agricultural workers are an important source of labour for Canadian farmers, including many working right here in the Okanagan.  

The Government of Canada also recognizes that, in a time of global economic uncertainty, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program provides many Canadian businesses with the employees they need to remain competitive, while at the same time providing an opportunity for many Mexicans to support their family with income earned in Canada.

Still Canada's business and tourism sectors remain concerned and have called on the government to delay implementation until Nov. 15, 2009.

In recent years, they say, Canada has welcomed 250,000 tourists from Mexico, 50 per cent of whom visit during July and August. As well, Mexico is the fourth biggest overseas market for Canadian tourism, bringing in approximately $265 million annually.

Furthermore, especially during a global recession, hampering business travel with a NAFTA partner could have serious economic consequences.

In the coming weeks, particularly at our summer Caucus in Ottawa at the end of July, I will be raising these concerns with the Minister.  I want assurance, as I know many of you do, that in trying to protect the integrity of our refugee system we are not inadvertently hurting legitimate tourism and business between Canada and these countries.

Ron Cannan is the Member of Parliament for Kelowna-Lake Country and can be contacted at 250-470-5075 or ron@cannan.ca