Don’t even think of coming around here, you hear!
Another odd juxtaposition of content on TV: the movie The Terminal and a news panel interview with a representative of our government, discussing proposed changes to the manner in which we treat refugees. Fact and fiction.
I’ll start by praising the movie version of life. I enjoyed watching Tom Hanks wander through the airport, for months on end. Not from a sadistic bent, but because he shows that any large system will have loopholes that can be used for the good of the common man. Need quarters?
The protagonist is there because things don’t always run smoothly in the diplomatic world. A valid visa and passport mean nothing if things fall apart on the home front. Enough to keep me close to my living room, given the falling reputation of this country on the international front. What if I went away and got stuck eating fast food for months? Isn’t that potentially fatal?
Government employees aren’t paid to bend the rules, and the daily reminder of the different between Passed and Denied is the essence of the script. But enough praise of the directorial skills of Spielberg. Back to the reality channel.
Someone in the PMO (no need to name the obvious) has decided that anyone claiming refugee status must be a perpetrator of international scale fraud. How could anyone get all the way from there to here without accomplices? Ergo, guilty of ulterior motives.
If the proposed changes to law come about, the term refugee will be stripped of meaning in the Canadian context. And should you slip by the watchful eye of the border guards, you’ll still be liable for deportation for five years. Forget the idea of your family joining you – you shouldn’t have left them behind in the first place.
I’m not sure what dictionary is available in the PMO, but it must have had the section dealing with humanitarian intent removed.
