When it comes to deciding whether illegal immigrants or human traffickers might make the best new Canadians, a case could be made for the traffickers. After all, illegal immigrants knowingly set out to pay and thereby corrupt others to act as accomplices in the breaking of our laws.
The human traffickers on the other hand only see a business opportunity and supply a service. People with the initiative to establish a profitable, albeit illegal, enterprise would therefore appear to be slightly more preferable than people who set out to illegally buy their way into Canada.
In reality, neither group should be welcomed. Citizenship guarantees hard fought-for rights, but citizenship also comes with responsibilities and one of them is to obey Canada’s laws.
There are more than enough honest people in the world who want to come to Canada and are willing to abide by our laws right from the start. The federal opposition parties talk about the sanctity of the Canadian Charter of Rights without mentioning citizenship comes with responsibilities. Canadian citizenship is too precious to be bought by criminals.
Lloyd Atkins, Vernon
