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Reform Party Challenges Canada's Refugee Policy on Gender-Based Claims

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Canada's refugee policy has been touted as a world first for its inclusion of gender-based claims, but the Reform Party is now challenging this policy, arguing that it is an ideological rather than realistic approach. The party's immigration critic, Calgary MP Art Hanger, claims that Canada cannot accept all who do not meet its standards of behavior and law. This stance has prompted criticism from the Canadian Council for Refugees, who argue that the gender-based guidelines have not significantly changed the demographic makeup of refugee claims in Canada.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Reform Party, led by Calgary MP Art Hanger, is challenging Canada's refugee policy on gender-based claims, arguing that it is an ideological rather than realistic approach.
  • The party claims that Canada cannot accept all who do not meet its standards of behavior and law, and that the inclusion of gender as a persecuted group is a manifestation of ideology rather than realism.
  • The Reform Party's proposal includes abolishing gender-based claims, scrapping the Immigration and Refugee Board, and not paying for legal aid, medicare, or social services to rejected refugee claimants who are appealing their cases to the courts.
  • According to David Austin, a spokesman for the Immigration and Refugee Board, gender-based claims accounted for only 350 claims in the first year after the guidelines were introduced, with 70 women admitted out of 150 cases decided.
  • The Reform Party argues that Canada cannot afford to accept all 20 million women who are victims of female circumcision.
  • The party's main theme is that Canada accepts refugee claimants too easily and pays too high a financial cost as a result.

Statistics:

  • 350 gender-based claims were made in the first year after the guidelines were introduced.
  • 70 women were admitted out of 150 cases decided in the first year after the guidelines were introduced.
  • The Immigration and Refugee Board processes about 25,000 cases annually.
  • 20 million women are victims of female circumcision worldwide.

Sources:

  • Art Hanger, MP (Reform Party)
  • David Matas, President, Canadian Council for Refugees
  • David Austin, Spokesman, Immigration and Refugee Board

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