the CanadaVisa Team - 09 July, 2015
The Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Chris Alexander, has announced that the government will ban people who have taken part in practices that are “incompatible with Canadian values” — such as those in polygamous or forced marriages — from immigrating to Canada.
Minister Alexander outlined the government’s position at a news conference with Status of Women Minister Kellie Leitch in Toronto on Wednesday morning. Alexander said that the bill would eliminate premature and forced marriages from Canada's immigration system and the country as a whole. The bill is expected to pass with full support from the majority Conservative caucus in Ottawa.
“The intention [of the bill] is very clear,” said Alexander. “We will be enhancing the ability of the immigration system to detect and then to act on cases of polygamy. There are many cases — at least hundreds across the country, maybe even more — of people who have come here with multiple wives without that fact being confirmed in the immigration system and without anything having been done about it, even when it’s detected later.
“We will give ourselves the tools to act. Polygamists are not welcome in this country and, if and when they are found in our immigration system, they will be removed from this country.”
