Bill C-2: A law on “strong borders” or on weak rights?
The Canadian government is once again experimenting with the balance between “security” and human rights.
On the agenda is Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act. At first glance, it’s sounds cool: who would be against “strong borders”? But if we dig deeper, we are not talking about borders, but about the boundaries of the rights and freedoms of Canadians and immigrants themselves.
What’s it all about?
The bill gives the state almost unlimited power:
• cancel or change immigration documents: visas, work and study permits, even applications that have already been submitted, based on vague wording about the “public interest” (let us recall that under the slogan of “public safety”, a state of emergency was declared and the rights of Canadians to assemble, protest, and move freely were restricted during COVID);
- deny refugees the right to a hearing if they have been in Canada for more than a year;
- set time limits for hearing cases, which violates international law;
- conduct searches and intercept correspondence without a warrant, that is, without judicial review.
In other words, the state gets the right to get into your mail and email, and also share your personal data with American authorities.
Why farmers are alarming?
So what is the connection between the immigration law and agriculture? Direct. In 2022, every fourth farm worker in Canada was a temporary foreign worker. These are the people on whom Canada's food supply depends. And Bill C-2 makes them the most vulnerable category: the risk of deportation, lack of guarantees and an increase in labor exploitation.
The President of the National Farmers Union (NFU) directly states: instead of strengthening agriculture by protecting workers, the government is proposing a “document hunt”. In the US, where immigrants are literally “hunted like animals” by ICE, they have already shown where such “strong borders” lead to. And Canada risks repeating the same scenario.
Even the Minister of Justice admits in his analysis: the law may contradict the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, affecting the basic rights to life, liberty and security.
That is, the state is deliberately PUSHES THROUGH a document that it itself recognizes as problematic. The question arises: if today a visa can be canceled “in the public interest”, what’s going to happen tomorrow? You’ll be banned from using WhatsApp without “ministerial permission”?
And now what?
Farmers, human rights activists and lawyers demand that Bill C-2 be withdrawn. Instead of increasing power for surveillance and deportations, we need to:
- cancel the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) with the United States,
- strengthen the rights of immigrants and temporary workers,
- protect the privacy of all Canadians from state interference without a court or warrant.
My ONLY conclusion is that the state cannot be given unlimited power. Today it is a "document hunt" for immigrants, tomorrow - mass interference in the lives of everyone. Do we want to turn into "USA number two" with their ICE and mass raids? Or do we still want to remain Canada, where rights, freedoms and justice are valued?
It's up to us to decide.
Oleksandra Melnykova, Canadian Immigration and Refugee Consultant.
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