Ottawa, March 7, 2012 – The Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, and the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, today made the following statement regarding charges laid against Mr. Thayakaran Markandu by the RCMP. Mr. Markandu is charged with Organizing Entry into Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for his involvement with the MV Sun Sea, a migrant vessel that brought 492 irregular migrants to Canada in August of 2010.
“I would like to commend the RCMP for their ongoing efforts and commitment in their investigation of the smuggling of irregular migrants to Canada aboard the MV Sun Sea,” said Minister Toews. “The MV Sun Sea is a vivid example of this ongoing challenge. Canada is a generous and compassionate country that welcomes newcomers. But no Canadian thinks it’s acceptable to abuse our immigration system for financial gain through the despicable crime of human smuggling.”
“Our government takes human smuggling very seriously,” said Minister Kenney. “On February 16, 2012 we introduced the Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act. With this new legislation we are cracking down on human smugglers including making it easier to prosecute them and introducing mandatory minimum sentences for convicted human smugglers.”
For more information on the laying of charges against Mr. Markandu, please visit the RCMP web site.
For more information on Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act, please visit the Citizenship and Immigration Canada web site.
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