Opinions

Social Activist Law Student Association Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University Halifax, N.S. Tom Denton, Class of ’58 – speaking notes Immigration is fraught with emotion and its issues are in the media almost daily.  It has a high-profile federal minister, Jason Kenney, who seems to be riding this horse for all it’s worth, provoking […]

[This talk was given by Tom Denton to the Probis Club of Winnipeg at the Hotel Fort Garry on April 17, 2012.] My topic today is “immigration”. This could easily be a two-semester course at one of our universities. For the brief time we have today I’d like to focus on two things. First is

Luncheon Speech to Association of Former Members of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly We are living in the Chicken Little, Henny Penny era. The sky is falling.  One only had to read the [Winnipeg] Free Press on the weekend to note once again the threat of global warming and the extremes of weather; potential environmental disaster

Like it or not, Canada’s immigration system will be front and centre in the fall agenda. We are in the middle of one of the most transformative periods in Canada’s immigration history. The federal government is changing who we select to immigrate, the supports newcomers have when they arrive, and how they can become citizens.

National Metropolis Conference, Ottawa, March 14-16, 2013 Conference theme: Building an Integrated Society In this brief time I will confine my remarks to the small slice of Canada’s migration policy that I know best: the private sponsoring of refugees. However, this small slice reveals a lot about the larger pie, and I’ll mention that. The

Annual meeting – Immigrant Services Calgary I’ve given some thought to an alternative title. You know the old expression that you can’t have your cake and eat it. I think that just maybe, when it comes to immigration that Canada can have its cake and eat it. It is going to take me a little while to explain. Please bear

Paper prepared for the 2013 International Metropolis Conference September 9-13, 2013; Tampere, Finland Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees [PSR] Program is a compelling example of “the law of unintended consequences”.  This fundamental concept found within the social science of economics holds that actions always have affects that are unanticipated or unintended. This is particularly true

Canada appears close to achieving another major trade agreement, this one with the European Union. While it will have its critics, increasing free trade on a global basis is arguably a good way to increase employment and spread prosperity at home and abroad. There is however an ironic side to all this. As goods move

Each year around Halloween, Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration minister is required by law to present to Parliament his immigration plan for the coming year. This is a good news event, a “treat,” and on Oct. 28, Minister Chris Alexander announced the target for 2014 would be in the range of 240,000-265,000 immigrants. The “trick” side

The Federal Court decision to strike down the Harper government’s health-care cuts to refugee claimants as “cruel and unusual”, has provoked widespread editorial comment across Canada, mostly approving. Immigration Minister Chris Alexander has announced his government’s intention to appeal the decision. Missing from these commentaries is any mention of what happened to similar coverage for