WHAT LESSONS CAN BE LEARNED FROM VICTORIA & FAVOUR? When news flashed around the world a few weeks ago about the vicious kidnapping of school girls in Nigeria, my thoughts turned to Victoria Ordu and Favour Amadi. They would not likely be directly affected by that terrorist assault in their home country, but the situation reflected the circumstances in life from which they have been trying to emerge. They came to Canada a few years ago on Nigerian government scholarships to study as foreign students at the University of Regina. All was going well until they worked off-campus for a few days at a Walmart store. They maintain this violation of their student visa conditions was inadvertent, but it provoked the full wrath of the Canada Border Services Agency. With unrelenting fury from the outset, CBSA was determined that Victoria and Favour would be deported, and ultimately they were driven out -- for the heinous offence of working briefly at rudimentary jobs in the province with the lowest unemployment rate in the country. Yes, there had been a breach of the rules, however minor, for which there had to be consequences, but this punishment seemed totally out of all proportion. That point was made eloquently and repeatedly by University President Vianne Timmons, together with the UofRs administration, faculty and students, plus the entire provincial Legislature (government and opposition) and many members of the general public. I raised it too in the House of Commons. But the Harper government would show no quarter. Despite the fact that senior officials of some maturity and judgment should have been involved in these two cases before deportation became a procedural inevitability, no such common sense case management was applied, and Conservative Ministers refused all flexibility. So last October the women were forced out. Thankfully, they got to come back last night. Its good that Victoria and Favour have been allowed to return. They can now resume their studies at the University of Regina. It will be up to them to make the most of this opportunity. The federal government deserves some credit for finally opening this path to a happier conclusion. Its at least some tacit acknowledgement that the previous flow of events was pretty badly skewed. But the biggest thanks must go to President Timmons and the university community who never lost hope or focus and never gave up on their fight to correct an obvious injustice. For the future, it will be important to have people of real quality and discernment conduct an impartial, review of all the complex details of these two cases. What got so badly crossed-threaded in how they were handled? Was there any other trigger than just a few days of work at Walmart? If that offence alone was so serious, why was no remedial action taken against the employer? What were the techniques used by CBSA to investigate and interrogate these two women - were there any threats or inducements? Is there sufficient, high quality supervision of case management at CBSA? When two federal departments are involved, what can be done to keep each Minister from ducking responsibility by just repeatedly deferring to the other? What should be the clearly defined circumstances in which a Minister can be called upon to intervene and exercise some discretion? Should there be a range of penalties for visa violations, beyond just the singular blunt instrument of deportation? Are the obligations of foreign students adequately explained and understood before issues arise? While on a happier course now, Victoria and Favour have already lost about two years of their lives since they took those ill-fated jobs at Walmart. It would be a sad waste if the government now just closes the book on these files and fails to try to learn something of value from this painful experience.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 22:58:47 +0000
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