Addendum
Since the completion of my thesis paper in August 2009, MP Jason Kenny has fast tracked the applications for the adoption of Haitian orphans since the earthquake that occurred in Haiti on January 12th, 2010. Even though Kenney’s has loosened the adoption laws to help 156 Haitian children who were in the process of being adopted when the earthquake occurred, there are still many children and other Haitians citizens who are unable to immigrate Canada.
The refusal to relax immigration standards for the victims of Haiti has caused Kenney and the federal government to be fiercely criticized by both the Liberal party and the Haitian community within Canada. As it stands individuals who can be sponsored by family members for immigration status include parents, spouses, children and grandparents. Quebec’s immigration minister Yolande James is one of many people who disagree with Kenney’s decision. Fortunately, Quebec has a clause within its agreement with the federal government, which James has utilized to relax the provincial standards on immigration. Kenney’s only response to James refusal to follow with the federal government’s decision was, “Quebec has the right to choose who immigrates to their province…Ottawa will not alter its definition of family or increase the quota for permanent residents in Quebec.”
In light of Kenney and the federal government’s reaction to the tragedy in Haiti and Kenney’s unyielding desire to maintain a “tight the definition of what it means to be Canadian,” I have found a complexity that demands further research. I feel that now more than ever that I can maintain the relevance of my project and that in order to do so there is significantly more work to be done.
