January 23, 2011:
On Sunday, Kenney confirmed the [Tunisian ex-dictator’s] relatives’ arrival.
“There are, I gather, a couple members of his family who are already Canadian permanent residents, which gives them a legal right to be here,” [Immigration Minister Jason] Kenney told CBC News. “But anyone who wants to come from Tunisia requires a visa. That would be very difficult for someone to obtain if they can’t go back to their country of origin. So we’re watching this situation carefully.”
…Members of Montreal’s Tunisian community were upset by the news.
“It is outrageous,” Sonia Djelidi said. “We don’t understand why Canada would accept them here in Canada because it doesn’t follow the Canadian values, such as justice and social democracy, and we want this family to be judged by Tunisians in Tunisia.”
…The Department of Foreign Affairs said in an email to CBC News that individuals are allowed in the country as long they have the proper papers and are not wanted by a foreign government.
June 4, 2009:
[Mr. Justice Russel Zinn, on the exiled Canadian citizen Abousfian Abdelrazik]
In my view, where a citizen is outside Canada, the Government of Canada has a positive obligation to issue an emergency passport to that citizen to permit him or her to enter Canada; otherwise, the right guaranteed by the Government of Canada in subsection 6(1) of the Charter is illusory. Where the Government refuses to issue that emergency passport, it is a prima facie breach of the citizen’s Charter rights unless the Government justifies its refusal pursuant to section 1 of the Charter. (64)
I find that the applicant’s Charter right as a citizen of Canada to enter Canada has been breached by the respondents in failing to issue him an emergency passport. In my view, it is not necessary to decide whether that breach was done in bad faith; a breach, whether made in bad faith or good faith remains a breach and absent justification under section 1 of the Charter, the aggrieved party is entitled to a remedy. Had it been necessary to determine whether the breach was done in bad faith, I would have had no hesitation making that finding on the basis of the record before me.(64-5) [emphases added]
Too bad our fellow citizen—not to mention Suaad Hagi Mohamud and Abdihakim Mohamed—weren’t related to deposed Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Maybe the trick for exiled Canadians is to obtain Tunisian citizenship and get back home on a visa. Seems to work for non-citizens.
[H/t CC, b/c]
