DRAFT RESOLUTION

TITLE:Security Checks and Anti-Terrorism

ORIGINAL SOURCE:Church in Society

CONFERENCE ACTION:

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:postage

SOURCE OF FUNDS:Conference budget

STAFFING IMPLICATIONS:letter-writing

VOLUNTEER IMPLICATIONS:Research

MOTION BY Jean Lee/Peter Bergerson that this 78th annual meeting of Toronto Conference of The United Church of Canada call upon the Minister of Immigration and the Solicitor General of Canada:
•To expand the role of the Security and Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) to oversee all security recommendations* by the Canadian Security and Intelligence Services (CSIS);
•To insure that in the event of discrepancy between the recommendation of SIRC and CSIS the recommendation of the SIRC shall prevail;
•To require that persons in Canada judged inadmissible on security grounds be given a hearing before an independent decision-maker;
•To require that a decision on possible security risk be rendered and communicated within a fixed time frame.
•To amend the Immigration Act to give a more precise definition of security risk;
•To amend C-36 to provide a more precise definition of terrorism.

*(including those respecting citizens, permanent residents, Convention refugees, refugee claimants, refugees overseas seeking to resettle in Canada, organizations being investigated by the government as possible “terrorist organizations”).

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Toronto Conference congregations be encouraged to contact their Members of Parliament regarding the above motion.

RATIONALE AND FAITH BASE
We are called to stand with those who are most vulnerable in the world.  We are called to judge the actions of those in power by how they deal with those who are vulnerable, who have no power. We are called to speak truth to power about their abuse of that power.

Processing times for security checks (both for citizens and particularly for refugee claimants and refugees overseas seeking to resettle in Canada) are getting longer and longer, and there are no mechanisms in place to require that these be completed at all, let alone in a punctual manner. There are no mechanisms in place to provide expedient redress for persons unjustly labeled as security risks.  Persons under review live in limbo. Decision have resulted in deportation to home countries where those deported, who had sought the protection of Canada, were subsequently tortured, imprisoned, disappeared  or killed.  Persons who could be brought to Canada from overseas wait in insecure situations for long periods because checks are not completed.