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Vaughan | 00:00 UK time, Wednesday, 26 October 2005

Over to the weblog's World Affairs desk now, for an interesting news story coming out of Canada, which is testing the country's attitudes to both disability and immigration to the limit.

The Supreme Court has been deciding if the Canadian government can reject wealthy would-be immigrants due to the impairments of members of their family. This follows the case of South African multi-millionaire David Hilewitz, whose application to emigrate to Canada was rejected because his son has learning difficulties. The businessman wants to bring his family and $5 million in investment to the country, and promised to pick up the extra costs involved in educating his son, Gavin. But the immigration authorities rejected the family's application, insisting that Mr Hilewitz's son could place "excessive demands" on the social system.

But this isn't the only such case being considered by the Canadian Supreme Court. An application from a Dutch family called DeJong, who hoped to settle on a dairy farm in southwest Ontario, was rejected because one of their daughters is "mildly mentally retarded" (their words, not ours!). Like the Hilewitz family, they had also offered to pay any extra costs associated with schooling.

The Hilewitz's lawyer has stated that these cases go to the very heart of Canada's reputation as a tolerant, welcoming society, if it is seen as refusing entry to anyone with a disability or health condition: "Canada is closing the door, not opening the door, and it's based on 'Look what could happen'."

So has there been an outcome? Well, yes. Last Friday, the Supreme Court decided 7 - 2 in favour of the Hilewitz and DeJong families having their applications reconsidered. But significantly, it's because the families' wealth and their willingness to pay for special services for their children are relevant factors in arriving at a decision about their immigration, whereas a family with dependants who could cause "excessive demands on social services" continue to offer good grounds for rejection.

You can read more about these cases from these Canadian news sources: , and .

Comments

  • 1.
  • At 12:00 AM on 26 Oct 2005, Chris Page wrote:


Oh, Irony! My Aunt came back from emigrating to Canada because I was born Disabled....

  • 2.
  • At 12:00 AM on 26 Oct 2005, James Medhurst wrote:


Stories like this make me glad that we're part of Europe. We've got the European Convention of Human Rights so it couldn't happen here, could it?

  • 3.
  • At 12:00 AM on 27 Oct 2005, allan kelly wrote:


As a Canadian,yes this yet another example of why minority parliments don`t work...the things that our politicans should be looking out for such as this get ignored,over a goverment having to deal with an opposition obssed with chewing gum expendatures by a president of the Mint.

  • 4.
  • At 12:00 AM on 27 Oct 2005, Whitney wrote:


I'm Canadian and disabled. And please don't get me wrong - I am in no way defending my country in the two cases reported, I am horrified. However, the care I receive in Canada is better than anything I have encountered in my four years in Britain.

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