Mathieu Labonté

It merits mentioning that Ontario's Indigenous minister Greg Rickford was also not present for the provincial government's visit to Thunder Bay, although the premier, the local member, and two other cabinet ministers attended.

Canada has no obligation to honour the misleading marketing of diploma mills, or the fraudulent promises of crooked overseas immigration consultants. Caveat emptor. When you apply for and receive a study permit, you sign off multiple times clearly accepting the terms. It is *patently* clear to any responsible adult that they must leave at the end of their authorized period, and there is no promise from Canada, implicit or explicit, that their TRV will magically turn into permanent residency.

Today, the Combatting Hate Act comes into force. Stronger penalties for hate-motivated crimes. A ban on the public display of hate symbols. New tools to arrest anyone who tries to intimidate you or block access to your place of worship. Because in Canada everyone should be able to be who they are and worship how they choose —  openly, freely, and safely.

It’s easy to call procurement “readiness” when you’re buying the same pieces you were taught to covet on war-college wargaming maps, especially when someone else will be storming the beach in the next fight.

Wrong. While there was no guarantee, it was designed and marketed as a: Study, Work, Stay, program with pathways to citizenship. Then the goal posts kept changing and finally the kids were outright screwed over due to xenophobia and politics. That is the shameful truth of it.

When these folks applied for their study permits, they signed a legal undertaking to leave Canada at the end of their authorized stay. There was no caveat about potentially applying for different visas in the future. Their visas were issued on the basis of that commitment, including evidence of establishment factors that they submitted to persuade an IRCC visa officer that, on a balance of probabilities, they would in fact leave at the end of their authorized period. Each of them further confirmed their undertaking to respect the terms of their visa when their admission was processed by a CBSA officer at a Canadian port of entry. I hope that they had a fruitful period studying in our beautiful country, and will now demonstrate respect for Canada, its fair immigration laws, and their solemn commitments, by returning home. Doing so will not preclude them from applying for permanent or temporary residency in the future. But overstaying in Canada will make them inadmissible, and will be a barrier to obtaining a visa in the future. They need advisors who will tell them this inconvenient truth, rather than charging them huge fees for false promises. Happily for any of these students who might be from India: it is a beautiful, richly diverse English speaking country founded on a magnificent, ancient civilization, with the fastest growing major economy on Earth, first rate post secondary institutions, and a lower unemployment rate than Canada. Opportunity abounds! We should be honoured that so many people would like to become Canadian. But our ability to welcome and successfully integrate newcomers depends on having a well managed immigration system with manageable levels, where people respect our fair & generous rules.