CN Rail Violating Border Laws With Impunity

Since September 11, 2001 the issue of Canada's "porous borders" has received a lot of media attention and there have been numerous calls from American officials that Canada tighten up its controls in order to prevent illegal aliens from coming into Canada. The Canadian government has responded to these pressures by passing legislation which, among other things, gives the RCMP and CSIS sweeping powers to arrest and detain illegal aliens. Yet, despite all of this talk and all of these draconian measures, CN Rail has been able to import illegal aliens from the United States to work as scabs during the current railway strike with little or no difficulty.

Shortly after the strike against CN Rail began, a local M.P. spoke in the House of Commons about the issue of American scabs working at CN Rail and demanded that the Department of Immigration look into the matter. Since then, a few of the scabs have been deported, but large numbers continue to work illegally in CN Rail's Canadian facilities. Despite the fact that these activities are clearly in violation of numerous Canadian laws, no high profile raids have been conducted against CN Rail and no charges have been filed against the company for aiding and abetting illegal aliens. In fact, apart from the initial report of the M.P.'s comments in the House of Commons, there has been complete silence in the media about this issue.

If an organization conspired to bring political and economic refugees into Canada illegally, its offices would be raided, its officers imprisoned and those individuals it brought into Canada illegally would spend months in jail awaiting court appearances on possible criminal charges related to entering the country illegally. In addition, the case would be front-page news for weeks, especially if the individuals originated from the Middle East. However, a major corporation can import illegal workers into Canada in an attempt to break a legal strike by its employees and face no charges and no publicity, and the few illegal aliens who are apprehended are quietly whisked back across the border with no charges filed against them. This demonstrates the double standard that exists in Canada on the issue of immigration policy.