Monday, September 26, 2011
A reader wondered in a letter to the editor recently why Abdikarim Mohamed Firin, 31, can't be deported back to Somalia for his brutal crime.
Well, the 31-year-old thug is a Canadian citizen. So no matter how vile his crime, we're stuck with him.
Once upon a time, things were different. Years ago, Canada had a form of conditional citizenship. Newcomers had to be here for five years before they acquired "domicile" status. Only then could they apply for citizenship.
And anyone with "domicile" status could be deported for serious criminality.
That was then; this is now. I suspect Firin didn't have to pay for his defence lawyer. Now Canadian taxpayers are going to pay to keep him in prison for a while (until he's presumably released early on statutory release).
Then we have to keep our fingers crossed that he's a good boy for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, his 17-year-old victim has to live with the memory of the August, 2008 attack at his Edmonton apartment.
Firin not only raped the teen but beat and kicked her so viciously that she was left bleeding from her nose, eyes and ears. She was covered in bruises and cuts and her jaw was so swollen it couldn't be X-rayed. When he threw her out onto the street, she was wearing only socks. What a charming guy we let into Canada.
He was arrested, let out on bail and abruptly hightailed it to Ontario where he was finally nabbed by cops in March. Poor Firin was a street kid in war-torn Somalia, selling gas and oil to feed himself before finding paradise in Canada, court heard recently when he pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault.
And we're supposed to feel sorry for him? Lots of Somali refugees have come to Canada. They have all had harrowing experiences in their homeland but the vast majority of them are decent, law-abiding people.
It does a dreadful disservice to the Somali community -- and all immigrant groups -- to try to use a horrible background as an excuse for rape.
Firin didn't rape this young woman because of his terrible experiences in Somalia. He did it because he's a vile human being and felt he could simply take what he wanted.
Too bad we can't deport him. But it would be nice if Ottawa brought back a form of conditional citizenship so we could boot out future hoodlums convicted of serious crimes.
James Bissett, former head of Canada's immigration service, agrees. "We should go back to the old system, making them stay for five years -- you can debate the number of years -- before they would be eligible to apply for citizenship," he says.
"And if during that five-year period they get into trouble with the police ... they should be removed."
I'd actually boost the waiting period for full citizenship to 10 years. Citizenship should be a privilege, not a right. Currently, you can obtain citizenship in three years -- far too short a time period, in my view.
At the same time, Ottawa should do an end-run around the Supreme Court of Canada's 1985 Singh decision, which effectively gives charter rights to everyone who sets foot in Canada.
The feds could perhaps use the notwithstanding clause, says Bissett. "Offering charter protection to everyone in the country was a very serious mistake, he explains.
"That means it's extremely difficult to remove people," he says. "It's one thing to order somebody deported; it's another to remove them. The whole thing has become a playground for litigation. It's made a lot of immigration lawyers rich."And cost Canadians billions.