Unfortunately this story is that the family was prevented from
entering because of a disability. Due to Canada's universal health
care system, immigrants with disabilities are considered a liability
and a possible "drain on the system" since the system is already
"overburdened" with Canadian citizens with disabilities. That is not
the "official" statement, but the general understanding why Canada
Immigration may have reacted this way. The work permit excuse is just
that, an excuse to cover up the truth.
This has not received much attention in the media, as this was all I
could find via Google.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1069617.html
http://www.thecoast.ca/Articles-i-2008-08-07-152441.113118-p19974.113118_Border_inaccessible_to_disabled.html
(pay extra attention to the cartoon accompanying the article)
Just a thought, I am sure Canada isn't alone in not being so "free and
easy" per immigrants with disabilities. There's been cases in the
past few years where USA and Australia, and dare I say England, have
the same sort of immigration policies for people with disabilities,
including AIDS/HIV.
Come to think of it, this topic of immigration to Canada and
disability might be an timely topic of presentation at the CDSA-ACEI
conference next year! :-)
--
********************************************************************************
Dawna Lee Rumball, PhD Student
Department of Educational Studies
Faculty of Education
University of British Columbia
2125 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC, Canada
V6T 1Z4
Email: [log in to unmask]
Canadian Disability Studies Association, President-Elect (2008-2009)
Web-site: http://www.cdsa-acei.ca/
********************************************************************************
________________End of message________________
This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies).
Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask]
Archives and tools are located at:
www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.
|