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(Prime Time Crime exclusive June 1, 2014)
An Insult
By Bob Cooper
The idea of inviting the Vancouver Police Department to a meeting in order to ask them to agree to subvert the work of another law enforcement agency is both insulting and dangerous. It flies in the face of a long-standing Canadian tradition of keeping politicians at arms-length from law enforcement. Any who doubt the wisdom of this practice need only to look at major American cities to realize what a slippery slope this is and how no good ever comes of it.
In this case, a meeting was held last month where various agencies and groups gathered to discuss making Vancouver the latest ‘sanctuary city’ in North America - City, police, health and immigrant agencies explore idea of becoming 'sanctuary city'
‘Sanctuary city’ refers to a policy currently popular in certain U.S. cities who are eager to join Detroit in bankruptcy, in which city employees (including, and especially, the police) are prohibited from disclosing anyone’s immigration status to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They also refuse to honor ICE requests to detain prisoners who’ve been arrested for other crimes but have been found to be in the United States illegally.
Yes, I said ‘illegally’. Because that’s exactly what it is and no amount of left-wing weasel words will change that. Canada already has one of the most generous immigration systems in the world where anyone who claims to be in genuine fear of harm can plead their case as refugees and be granted endless rounds of appeals should their claim fail. I’m not without sympathy for those wanting to come here but no country that fails to control its borders can remain sovereign or hope to maintain a stable society. The current situation in the UK and much of continental Europe is graphic evidence of that.
This isn’t just politics, it’s cheap politics. Once again, Vision types are twisting themselves into pretzels to cater to 1% of the population, in this case a rag-tag bunch of Open the Borders activists and they’re only doing it because their political rival COPE beat them to it. Worse yet, they’re trying to use the VPD as a prop to lend legitimacy to this nonsense.
One of the VPD’s closest law enforcement partners is the Canada Border Services Agency and its predecessor Canada Immigration. CBSA officers have been assigned on a full-time basis to squads such as Drugs and Gangs for years. The relationship was seamless with a free flow of information back and forth. Guess how long that will last? It should also be remembered that outstanding warrants are orders of the court signed by a judge. Enforcement of them isn’t optional and I’d love to see how they’re going to get around that.
Knuckling under and
participating in this scheme not only risks the long-standing relationship
between VPD and CBSA but it’s an insult to every immigrant to Canada who
lined up, played by the rules, and waited their turn.
Most importantly, it seriously undermines the traditional
independence of law enforcement.
Councillor Meggs and his pals
should have been told to get stuffed.
Bob Cooper is a retired Vancouver policeman. He walked a beat in Chinatown and later worked in the Asian Organized Crime Section and the Homicide Squad.