“The Minister of Immigration’s national public consultation on the Not Just Numbers report of the Legislative Review Advisory Group (LRAG) is inadequate to allow for sound public policy and legislation to be developed on critical immigration and refugee issues.” Thus began a BC Branch news release and media conference initiated by the Immigration Section on February 27, 1998, moments before Immigration Minister Lucienne Robillard began “public consultation” on the LRAG recommendations.

The Section’s main issue of concern, as voiced by Chair Catherine Sas, was the fact that despite the dramatic and extensive nature of the proposed reforms, the consultation schedule covered only six cities in eight days, with only invited participants allowed to speak. The list of invited participants, although limited in number, reflected a broad cross-section of interest groups, but no individuals. The CBA National Immigration Section followed with a news release on March 11, 1998, supporting the Branch’s message that the legislation reform process should be “cautious and thoughtful”, and that the CBA opposes “speed at the expense of consultation”. Contact Catherine Sas for more information.

This article was published in the April 1998 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2006, all rights reserved.