OTTAWA — Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner says Prime Minister Mark Carney could end what she calls Canada’s “two-tier justice system” by passing a one-line Criminal Code amendment preventing courts from reducing sentences because of an offender’s immigration status.Speaking to the Western Standard during a news conference Thursday, Rempel Garner accused the Liberal government of “partisanship,” incompetence and “willful blindness” after MPs defeated her proposed amendment earlier this year.“The issue is non-citizens convicted of serious crime getting lenient sentences to avoid deportation,” she said.“I did their job for them this year. I wrote a one-line private member’s bill that would have added a line to the Criminal Code which would prohibit that practice in the justice system.”Bill C-220 would have prohibited courts from considering the possible effect of a sentence on the immigration status of an offender or a member of the offender’s family.It was defeated at second reading on March 25 by a vote of 171 to 158..Rempel Garner has called for the resignations of Justice Minister Sean Fraser and Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab over the issue.She described Fraser as the former immigration minister who oversaw the creation of an “abject dumpster fire” before being promoted to the Justice portfolio. She called Diab “arguably incompetent” and accused her of failing to recognize the need for reform.“There’s literally no reason why the government can’t do this,” Rempel Garner said.“I think it’s partisanship. I think it’s incompetence. And I think it’s just willful blindness to an issue that is, across the political spectrum, seen as ridiculous.”The debate stems partly from the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2013 ruling in R. v. Pham.The court found that immigration consequences may be considered when determining a fit sentence, but warned that they must not distort the sentencing process, produce an artificial sentence or create a separate sentencing range for non-citizens.“Regardless of how somebody votes, we all care about Canada’s pluralism,” Rempel Garner said. “One of the foundational responsibilities of being in this country is respecting the rule of law.”She said reducing a sentence to help a non-citizen avoid deportation fails to respect Parliament’s will and undermines equal treatment before the law.“Prime Minister Carney, don’t make me come to this room again,” she said. “Don’t make me raise case after case in the House of Commons.”“This is a one-line bill that we could pass in five minutes in the House of Commons. Let’s just get it done.”.The Western Standard also asked Rempel Garner whether foreign governments could be involved in exploiting weaknesses in Canada’s visa system, particularly through international students, criminal networks and fraudulent documents.Rempel Garner did not allege that a foreign state was directing such abuse. Instead, she placed responsibility on Ottawa for inadequate screening.“Objectively, we know for a fact that the federal Liberal government has failed on screening in many different regards,” she said.She pointed to the auditor general’s March report on the international student program, which found federal officials failed to follow up on 800 people identified as having used fraudulent documents or misrepresented information after receiving study permits.The audit also found more than 153,000 students were flagged for potential non-compliance during 2023 and 2024, but only about 4,000 investigations were launched.“I don’t see a lot of action on it,” Rempel Garner said. “The federal Liberals have failed to respond.”She also accused the government of failing to detect or remove senior officials linked to Iran’s regime, potentially placing members of Canada’s Persian community at risk.“Failure to screen is something that is objectively happening in the federal government,” she said. “It’s happened for years, and Conservatives are pushing with common-sense solutions to address those issues.”
