World Population Forecast to Top 7 Billion in 2011 - NYTimes.com
July 29, 2010
Population Research Presents a Sobering Prognosis
By SAM ROBERTS
With 267 people being born every minute and 108 dying, the world’s population will top seven billion next year, a research group projects, while the ratio of working-age adults to support the elderly in developed countries declines precipitously because of lower birthrates and longer life spans.
In a sobering assessment of those two trends, William P. Butz, president of the Population Reference Bureau, said that “chronically low birthrates in developed countries are beginning to challenge the health and financial security of the elderly” at the same time that “developing countries are adding over 80 million to the population each year and the poorest of those countries are adding 20 million, exacerbating poverty and threatening the environment.”
Projections, especially over decades, are vulnerable to changes in immigration, retirement ages, birthrates, health care and other variables, but in releasing the bureau’s 2010 population data sheet, Carl Haub, its senior demographer, estimated this week that by 2050 the planet will be home to more than nine billion people.
Even with a decline in birthrates in less developed countries from 6 children per woman in 1950 to 2.5 today (and to 2 children or less in Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Iran, Thailand and Turkey), the population of Africa is projected to at least double by midcentury to 2.1 billion. Asia will add an additional 1.3 billion.
While the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand will continue to grow because of higher birthrates and immigration, Europe, Japan and South Korea will shrink (although the recession reduced birthrates in the United States and Spain and slowed rising birthrates in Russia and Norway).
In Japan, the population of working-age people, typically defined as those 15 to 64, compared with the population 65 and older that is dependent on this younger group, is projected to decline to a ratio of one to one, from the current three to one. Worldwide, the ratio of working age people for every person in the older age group is expected to decline to four to one, from nine to one now.
Earlier this week, Eurostat, the statistical arm of the 27-nation European Union, reported that while the union’s population topped a half billion this year, 900,000 of the 1.4 million growth from the year before resulted from immigration. Eurostat has predicted that deaths will outpace births in five years, a trend that has already occurred in Bulgaria, Latvia and Hungary.
While the bulge in younger people, if they are educated, presents a potential “demographic dividend” for countries like Bangladesh and Brazil, the shrinking proportion of working-age people elsewhere may place a strain on governments and lead them to raise retirement ages and to encourage alternative job opportunities for older workers.
Even in the United States, the proportion of the gross domestic product spent on Social Security and Medicare is projected to rise to 14.5 percent in 2050, from 8.4 percent this year.
The Population Reference Bureau said that by 2050, Russia and Japan would be bumped from the 10 most populous countries by Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Friday, July 30, 2010
EXCELLENT EDITORIAL IN TODAY'S GLOBE AND MAIL
As I wrote in this Blog yesterday, this policy is stupid and discourages precisely the type of immigrants we need. Instead, we should require language tests from spouses in the family class and from approved refugee claimants before granting them residency, as they represent the weak link in the labour force and the economy. Enough political correctness already! Don't treat all applicants equally bad. Reward the best and cast away the rest. Let common sense prevail! the Globe and Mail seems to agree with me.
Arbitrary language test defies common sense - The Globe and Mail
Globe Editorial
Arbitrary language test defies common sense
If immigrants already speak English or French, and that can be easily verified, they should not have to spend hundreds of dollars proving it, as a new Canadian policy demands.
From Friday's Globe and Mail
Published on Thursday, Jul. 29, 2010 8:00PM EDT
Last updated on Thursday, Jul. 29, 2010 8:02PM EDT
Canada's immigrants should have the desire to learn one of Canada's official languages, or know English or French already, when they apply to be immigrants. If they already speak it, and that can be easily verified, they should not have to spend hundreds of dollars proving it, as a new Canadian policy demands.
The federal government will now make every new prospective immigrant in the Skilled Worker and Canadian Experience categories take a test to demonstrate their knowledge of English or French; the previous rule allowed them to demonstrate their proficiency in writing. A government spokesperson justifies the decision by saying “the use of written submissions as a tool for assessing language proficiency is unreli-
able, inefficient and more easily subject to fraud.”
The government should show, however, a little common sense, which is lacking in the cases of Sara Landreth and James Brooke-Smith. Surely graduates of American PhD programs in English literature, both of whom learned English as a first language, are proficient in English.
Knowing that, it is ludicrous to insist that they take a rudimentary language quiz, and incur the $280 cost involved. It smacks of needless bureaucracy and it degrades the immigration system. It also sends the wrong message to potential future skilled immigrants. Many speak English or French as a mother tongue, and the growing share that don't have often been educated in English or French.
Other countries have crafted policies around language and immigration that are worth considering. Australia gives automatic partial language points for skilled immigrants who hold passports from one of five other predominantly English-speaking countries. Britain recently revised its rules to require immigrants from non-European countries coming to join or marry their partners to take an English language test. New Zealand allows applicants to demonstrate their knowledge of English by providing evidence of schooling in English.
Language, citizenship and participation in larger society are inextricably linked. Canada's official languages are English and French. We should expect immigrants to demonstrate proficiency in one or both of them, and those who don't should endeavour to learn it.
But the government should not go out of its way to torment those whose grasp is manifest by submitting them to arbitrary testing.
Arbitrary language test defies common sense - The Globe and Mail
Globe Editorial
Arbitrary language test defies common sense
If immigrants already speak English or French, and that can be easily verified, they should not have to spend hundreds of dollars proving it, as a new Canadian policy demands.
From Friday's Globe and Mail
Published on Thursday, Jul. 29, 2010 8:00PM EDT
Last updated on Thursday, Jul. 29, 2010 8:02PM EDT
Canada's immigrants should have the desire to learn one of Canada's official languages, or know English or French already, when they apply to be immigrants. If they already speak it, and that can be easily verified, they should not have to spend hundreds of dollars proving it, as a new Canadian policy demands.
The federal government will now make every new prospective immigrant in the Skilled Worker and Canadian Experience categories take a test to demonstrate their knowledge of English or French; the previous rule allowed them to demonstrate their proficiency in writing. A government spokesperson justifies the decision by saying “the use of written submissions as a tool for assessing language proficiency is unreli-
able, inefficient and more easily subject to fraud.”
The government should show, however, a little common sense, which is lacking in the cases of Sara Landreth and James Brooke-Smith. Surely graduates of American PhD programs in English literature, both of whom learned English as a first language, are proficient in English.
Knowing that, it is ludicrous to insist that they take a rudimentary language quiz, and incur the $280 cost involved. It smacks of needless bureaucracy and it degrades the immigration system. It also sends the wrong message to potential future skilled immigrants. Many speak English or French as a mother tongue, and the growing share that don't have often been educated in English or French.
Other countries have crafted policies around language and immigration that are worth considering. Australia gives automatic partial language points for skilled immigrants who hold passports from one of five other predominantly English-speaking countries. Britain recently revised its rules to require immigrants from non-European countries coming to join or marry their partners to take an English language test. New Zealand allows applicants to demonstrate their knowledge of English by providing evidence of schooling in English.
Language, citizenship and participation in larger society are inextricably linked. Canada's official languages are English and French. We should expect immigrants to demonstrate proficiency in one or both of them, and those who don't should endeavour to learn it.
But the government should not go out of its way to torment those whose grasp is manifest by submitting them to arbitrary testing.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
UNIFORMITY TAKEN TO RIDICULOUS LEVELS
As of June 26,2010, every immigration applicant in the Skilled Worker or the Canada Experience Class categories must take a language proficiency test, either IELTS for English or TEF for French, no exceptions. This is ridiculous , as highlighted in the story from the Globe and Mail below, published today, where American PhDs in English teaching as professors of literature at a Canadian university are requested to take a language test.
This situation is the result of political correctness taken to its highest level of stupidity. Why? How did this ridiculous result cam about? Here is why:
Language proficiency for immigrants is a MUST. Evey single study shows that lack of language proficiency impairs immigrants' abilities to adapt to society and integrate into the labour force, as employers demand appropriate speaking, reading and writing skills. That is beyond any question and is a laudable goal. It is also a key building block of society. But why require US, UK, or French -born and educated people to do this? Isn't this ridiculous? Yes, but the bureaucrats, in their wisdom, decided not to make exceptions. presumably due to fear of being accused to favour immigrants from certain countries to the detriment of those who are not English or French speaking.
It would be very easy for the government to create a list of countries whose citizens, as long as they are born, educated and living there, should be exempt from the language tests. Obvious examples are those born in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc,. who are born and educated in English , or those born and educated in France or other officially French-speaking nations. Where the sticking point lies is in how to deal with those who are born in countries where English or French are not the official language, but then migrate to other countries to be educated or work in English or French, often their language abilities are somewhat below average, particularly if they study or work in subjects where language is not a critical component (i.e computer science, math, chemistry, etc). The other area of concern are those who come from countries where, although English or French are official languages, the education level is so poor that their language abilities are substantially below par: some countries in the developing world fit that description.
Having said all this, there has to be a better and more common sense way to deal with this problem, other than requiring US, French and UK citizens to take the test. Common sense must find a voice in the immigration process. While the government demands language tests from all skilled workers, the real problem is the lack of language ability by sponsored relatives and refugees, which imposes an unacceptably high cost on taxpayer-funded language classes and has long-term financial consequences for the migrants, who have a hard time finding jobs and integrating into the labour force. That is the real crux of the problem, but governments do not wish to deal with that due to the potential political fallout.
English profs not amused by Canada’s immigration pop quiz - The Globe and Mail
English profs not amused by Canada’s immigration pop quiz
Sara Landreth and her husband, James Brooke-Smith, teach English literature at the University of Ottawa. Both have doctorates in English literature, but Canada's immigration rules require each of them to take a $280 test proving they are fluent in the language. Brigitte Bouvier for The Globe and Mail
New rules require a $280 language test, even if you hold a PhD in literature
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published on Wednesday, Jul. 28, 2010 10:30PM EDT
Last updated on Thursday, Jul. 29, 2010 12:24AM EDT
She has a PhD in English literature. She has been hired to teach English literature to Canada’s budding scholars. Yet her application for immigration will not be processed unless she submits to a $280 English language test, thanks to a ministerial instruction signed by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney last month.
“It certainly strikes me as ridiculous and a bit ludicrous,” Dr. Landreth said. “The irony of someone who’s immigrating to Canada to teach English being asked to take an English test is probably not lost on most people.”
It might seem no more than a bureaucratic hassle, but critics say the decision runs roughshod over immigration law, which states that applicants don’t have to write the test if they can provide other evidence, in writing, of their proficiency in an official language. In response, the Department of Citizenship and Immigration said that in the past, written submissions had to be evaluated by immigration officers; an independently administered test will help prevent fraud and ensure a fair and transparent method of evaluation, a spokeswoman said.
Dr. Landreth, 30, has a tenure-track position at the University of Ottawa, where she has worked for the last year on a temporary permit. She is American by birth and moved to Canada after finishing her PhD at New York University. Her husband, James Brooke-Smith, a British citizen who also holds a PhD in English literature, has been working as a lecturer in Ottawa and will also have to take the test.
“What struck me was the complete inflexibility, that there’s just no way I can waive this,” she said. “That there was no clause for professional capabilities or mother tongue seemed very strange. The reality is it just creates unnecessary red tape.”
David Matas, an immigration lawyer in Winnipeg, said what disturbs him about the change is the way it was enacted. Section 79 of the regulations of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act states that skilled worker applicants may choose to submit to a language test or provide written evidence of their proficiency. Last month, Mr. Kenney issued a ministerial instruction, effective immediately, that said only applicants who write a test will be considered.
“What he’s doing is taking a power over processing and using it, in effect, to amend the law,” Mr. Matas said. “Frankly [it] gives me a good deal of concern and isn’t just about language testing or immigration. It’s the sort of power that, if accepted, would wreak havoc with all our laws.”
He went so far as to call it an abuse of the system. “If it goes without comment, I think we’re just going to see more and more of it, not just in this field but in others,” Mr. Matas added.
Toronto lawyer Cathryn Sawicki has launched a legal challenge to the new rules in Federal Court.
Mr. Kenney referred questions on Wednesday to Kelli Fraser, a departmental spokeswoman, who said the change was made through ministerial instruction to speed processing before a formal regulation change is enacted.
Ms. Fraser said that, in making the decision, the government referred to research that found official language literacy had a significant impact on immigrant earnings, and that where literacy matched that of Canadian-born citizens, there was almost no gap in earnings for immigrants. Since non-native English or French speakers often used the documentation option, visa officers found it difficult to assess their abilities, Ms. Fraser said.
“We felt that going to a language test option was the most fair, transparent, objective, consistent and accurate way to evaluate different applicants’ language skills,” she said.
This situation is the result of political correctness taken to its highest level of stupidity. Why? How did this ridiculous result cam about? Here is why:
Language proficiency for immigrants is a MUST. Evey single study shows that lack of language proficiency impairs immigrants' abilities to adapt to society and integrate into the labour force, as employers demand appropriate speaking, reading and writing skills. That is beyond any question and is a laudable goal. It is also a key building block of society. But why require US, UK, or French -born and educated people to do this? Isn't this ridiculous? Yes, but the bureaucrats, in their wisdom, decided not to make exceptions. presumably due to fear of being accused to favour immigrants from certain countries to the detriment of those who are not English or French speaking.
It would be very easy for the government to create a list of countries whose citizens, as long as they are born, educated and living there, should be exempt from the language tests. Obvious examples are those born in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc,. who are born and educated in English , or those born and educated in France or other officially French-speaking nations. Where the sticking point lies is in how to deal with those who are born in countries where English or French are not the official language, but then migrate to other countries to be educated or work in English or French, often their language abilities are somewhat below average, particularly if they study or work in subjects where language is not a critical component (i.e computer science, math, chemistry, etc). The other area of concern are those who come from countries where, although English or French are official languages, the education level is so poor that their language abilities are substantially below par: some countries in the developing world fit that description.
Having said all this, there has to be a better and more common sense way to deal with this problem, other than requiring US, French and UK citizens to take the test. Common sense must find a voice in the immigration process. While the government demands language tests from all skilled workers, the real problem is the lack of language ability by sponsored relatives and refugees, which imposes an unacceptably high cost on taxpayer-funded language classes and has long-term financial consequences for the migrants, who have a hard time finding jobs and integrating into the labour force. That is the real crux of the problem, but governments do not wish to deal with that due to the potential political fallout.
English profs not amused by Canada’s immigration pop quiz - The Globe and Mail
English profs not amused by Canada’s immigration pop quiz
Sara Landreth and her husband, James Brooke-Smith, teach English literature at the University of Ottawa. Both have doctorates in English literature, but Canada's immigration rules require each of them to take a $280 test proving they are fluent in the language. Brigitte Bouvier for The Globe and Mail
New rules require a $280 language test, even if you hold a PhD in literature
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published on Wednesday, Jul. 28, 2010 10:30PM EDT
Last updated on Thursday, Jul. 29, 2010 12:24AM EDT
She has a PhD in English literature. She has been hired to teach English literature to Canada’s budding scholars. Yet her application for immigration will not be processed unless she submits to a $280 English language test, thanks to a ministerial instruction signed by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney last month.
“It certainly strikes me as ridiculous and a bit ludicrous,” Dr. Landreth said. “The irony of someone who’s immigrating to Canada to teach English being asked to take an English test is probably not lost on most people.”
It might seem no more than a bureaucratic hassle, but critics say the decision runs roughshod over immigration law, which states that applicants don’t have to write the test if they can provide other evidence, in writing, of their proficiency in an official language. In response, the Department of Citizenship and Immigration said that in the past, written submissions had to be evaluated by immigration officers; an independently administered test will help prevent fraud and ensure a fair and transparent method of evaluation, a spokeswoman said.
Dr. Landreth, 30, has a tenure-track position at the University of Ottawa, where she has worked for the last year on a temporary permit. She is American by birth and moved to Canada after finishing her PhD at New York University. Her husband, James Brooke-Smith, a British citizen who also holds a PhD in English literature, has been working as a lecturer in Ottawa and will also have to take the test.
“What struck me was the complete inflexibility, that there’s just no way I can waive this,” she said. “That there was no clause for professional capabilities or mother tongue seemed very strange. The reality is it just creates unnecessary red tape.”
David Matas, an immigration lawyer in Winnipeg, said what disturbs him about the change is the way it was enacted. Section 79 of the regulations of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act states that skilled worker applicants may choose to submit to a language test or provide written evidence of their proficiency. Last month, Mr. Kenney issued a ministerial instruction, effective immediately, that said only applicants who write a test will be considered.
“What he’s doing is taking a power over processing and using it, in effect, to amend the law,” Mr. Matas said. “Frankly [it] gives me a good deal of concern and isn’t just about language testing or immigration. It’s the sort of power that, if accepted, would wreak havoc with all our laws.”
He went so far as to call it an abuse of the system. “If it goes without comment, I think we’re just going to see more and more of it, not just in this field but in others,” Mr. Matas added.
Toronto lawyer Cathryn Sawicki has launched a legal challenge to the new rules in Federal Court.
Mr. Kenney referred questions on Wednesday to Kelli Fraser, a departmental spokeswoman, who said the change was made through ministerial instruction to speed processing before a formal regulation change is enacted.
Ms. Fraser said that, in making the decision, the government referred to research that found official language literacy had a significant impact on immigrant earnings, and that where literacy matched that of Canadian-born citizens, there was almost no gap in earnings for immigrants. Since non-native English or French speakers often used the documentation option, visa officers found it difficult to assess their abilities, Ms. Fraser said.
“We felt that going to a language test option was the most fair, transparent, objective, consistent and accurate way to evaluate different applicants’ language skills,” she said.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
HERE WE GO AGAIN...
This happens every time Canada hosts an international event, without fail. Obviously, some entrepreneurial individuals know how to use the opportunity to pose as legitimate visitors.
CBC News - New Brunswick - Defections possible after world track meet
CBC News - New Brunswick - Defections possible after world track meet
Saturday, July 24, 2010
STAY AWAY FROM CUBA
See this story from the Globe and Mail. This problem is more common than you think. I fail to see why, with so many better choices for a vacation, Canadians continue to flock and support the Communist regime in Cuba with their tourist dollars.
One of my former clients was jailed after a motorcycle accident where the only person hurt was himself while driving at his job delivering mail, but he had the misfortune of colliding against a car driven by a Cuban senior military officer. After waking up from his concussion at the hospital, he was automatically jailed and eventually convicted to a 10 year term, of which he served four.
I represented many Cubans who desperately fled the grip of the oppressive State Security apparatus while being abroad, including several members of dance troupes and musical groups, students, professionals, film makers, professors, etc. All of them invariably told me stories of mental and physical abuse, untold controls, spying by the infamous "Committees for the Defense of the Revolution", random questioning by the police, and in some cases jail terms for trumped up charges.
Canadians seldom understand that Cuba is a police state, where the State Security and informants are stationed in hotels and watch the interaction between tourists and staff to ensure loyalty to the regime, and where there is no rule of law as we understand it in the event of a problem. Beware... and go elsewhere!
Mother wants Ottawa's help with son’s Cuban ‘nightmare’ - The Globe and Mail
Friday, July 23, 2010 5:10 PM
Mother wants Ottawa's help with son’s Cuban ‘nightmare’
Gloria Galloway
Cody LeCompte and his mom headed to Cuba for a vacation in late April – a week in the sun that was his reward for getting accepted into a aviation technology program at college. Nearly three months later, he is still there, unable to leave the country because he was the driver of a car that was involved in a car accident.
Mr. LeCompte, who is staying at a Cuban resort, was recently told a jury will decide if his case needs to go to a full criminal trial. Now the teenager is afraid he will be spending time in a Cuban prison.
Not that he has been charged in the incident – he was driving down a main road in the Caribbean country that is the second-most popular tourist destinations for Canadians when his rental car was hit by a truck that emerged from a side road.
But he was injured along with the other three people travelling with him: his mother, his cousin and his cousin’s Cuban fiancée. All survived but the fiancée had to have part of her liver removed.
And that is a problem. Because, in Cuba, accidents resulting in death or injury are treated as crimes and the onus is on the driver to prove innocence. Regardless of the nature of the accident, it can take five months to a year for a case to go to trial. In most cases, the driver will not be allowed to leave Cuba until the trial has taken place.
“It’s been a nightmare,” his mother Danette said in a telephone interview Friday from Cuba, where she has returned to spend time with her son.
The date of the jury hearing is supposed to be announced shortly, she said. “We have heard that they are going to put a rush on it but we have been told a lot of things.”
Meanwhile, she is braced for the possibility that it could be many more months before her son can leave.
Representatives of Canada’s consular affairs team in Cuba were supposed to pay them a visit, she said, but that has never happened. “They call about every three days but just for updates on when we are going to the lawyer’s [office]. But as for assistance and getting us home, there’s nothing.”
Now the bills are piling up. “And I am not a person who has this kind of money. We had to save for this trip,” she said. “So we are into probably $20,000 or $25,000 with everything, with hiring the Cuban lawyer, with the phone bills, with paying for the resort. It’s overwhelming.”
The Foreign Affairs department in Ottawa said the Canadian embassy in Cuba and the consulate in Guardalavaca, in Holguin province, are providing consular assistance and support to Mr. LeCompte.
“The Canadian Government cannot interfere in the judicial process of a foreign country,” department spokeswoman Dana Cryderman said. “But Canadian consular officials are following the case very closely with Cuban authorities.”
She noted that Deepak Obhrai – the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs – has met with senior Cuban officials while at the African Union Summit in Uganda and raised Mr. LeCompte’s case directly.
Liberal MP Dan McTeague, however, thinks more pressure could be brought to bear.
He said he understands the accident was serious and the Cuban authorities must be allowed to proceed through their normal process for reviewing these kinds of cases. “But that doesn’t mean our consular officials should be on the sidelines waiting,” he told The Globe.
“They should be urging, pressing, helping, continuing to inquire as to the status of the case to ensure that the case moves along as soon as possible.”
The fact that none of them have paid Mr. LeCompte a visit suggests “that the level of interest at this point is somewhat peripheral and it isn’t directly engaged on our end.”
More than that, Mr. McTeague said, any Canadian travelling to Cuba should be made aware of the risks of driving and renting a car.
“I think it’s critical that the Canadian government, in concert with travel agencies in Canada, provide Canadians full disclosure of the circumstances that might lead to these kinds of unfortunate outcomes,” the Liberal MP said.
There is a warning about the problem on the Foreign Affairs website. But, like many Canadians, the LeCompte’s did not check the site before leaving on their trip.
“We weren’t warned at all,” Ms. LeCompte said. “The travel agents should be warning people. It should be out there not to drive in Cuba.”
Since her son’s plight has been made public, the tale has lit up the telephones on radio talk shows and Canadians have been firing off e-mails to the Cuban Ambassador Teresita de Jesús Vicente Sotolongo and the Cuban Tourism Minister.
But there was no response from the Cuban embassy in Ottawa to queries from The Globe because officials have gone home for the summer.
One of my former clients was jailed after a motorcycle accident where the only person hurt was himself while driving at his job delivering mail, but he had the misfortune of colliding against a car driven by a Cuban senior military officer. After waking up from his concussion at the hospital, he was automatically jailed and eventually convicted to a 10 year term, of which he served four.
I represented many Cubans who desperately fled the grip of the oppressive State Security apparatus while being abroad, including several members of dance troupes and musical groups, students, professionals, film makers, professors, etc. All of them invariably told me stories of mental and physical abuse, untold controls, spying by the infamous "Committees for the Defense of the Revolution", random questioning by the police, and in some cases jail terms for trumped up charges.
Canadians seldom understand that Cuba is a police state, where the State Security and informants are stationed in hotels and watch the interaction between tourists and staff to ensure loyalty to the regime, and where there is no rule of law as we understand it in the event of a problem. Beware... and go elsewhere!
Mother wants Ottawa's help with son’s Cuban ‘nightmare’ - The Globe and Mail
Friday, July 23, 2010 5:10 PM
Mother wants Ottawa's help with son’s Cuban ‘nightmare’
Gloria Galloway
Cody LeCompte and his mom headed to Cuba for a vacation in late April – a week in the sun that was his reward for getting accepted into a aviation technology program at college. Nearly three months later, he is still there, unable to leave the country because he was the driver of a car that was involved in a car accident.
Mr. LeCompte, who is staying at a Cuban resort, was recently told a jury will decide if his case needs to go to a full criminal trial. Now the teenager is afraid he will be spending time in a Cuban prison.
Not that he has been charged in the incident – he was driving down a main road in the Caribbean country that is the second-most popular tourist destinations for Canadians when his rental car was hit by a truck that emerged from a side road.
But he was injured along with the other three people travelling with him: his mother, his cousin and his cousin’s Cuban fiancée. All survived but the fiancée had to have part of her liver removed.
And that is a problem. Because, in Cuba, accidents resulting in death or injury are treated as crimes and the onus is on the driver to prove innocence. Regardless of the nature of the accident, it can take five months to a year for a case to go to trial. In most cases, the driver will not be allowed to leave Cuba until the trial has taken place.
“It’s been a nightmare,” his mother Danette said in a telephone interview Friday from Cuba, where she has returned to spend time with her son.
The date of the jury hearing is supposed to be announced shortly, she said. “We have heard that they are going to put a rush on it but we have been told a lot of things.”
Meanwhile, she is braced for the possibility that it could be many more months before her son can leave.
Representatives of Canada’s consular affairs team in Cuba were supposed to pay them a visit, she said, but that has never happened. “They call about every three days but just for updates on when we are going to the lawyer’s [office]. But as for assistance and getting us home, there’s nothing.”
Now the bills are piling up. “And I am not a person who has this kind of money. We had to save for this trip,” she said. “So we are into probably $20,000 or $25,000 with everything, with hiring the Cuban lawyer, with the phone bills, with paying for the resort. It’s overwhelming.”
The Foreign Affairs department in Ottawa said the Canadian embassy in Cuba and the consulate in Guardalavaca, in Holguin province, are providing consular assistance and support to Mr. LeCompte.
“The Canadian Government cannot interfere in the judicial process of a foreign country,” department spokeswoman Dana Cryderman said. “But Canadian consular officials are following the case very closely with Cuban authorities.”
She noted that Deepak Obhrai – the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs – has met with senior Cuban officials while at the African Union Summit in Uganda and raised Mr. LeCompte’s case directly.
Liberal MP Dan McTeague, however, thinks more pressure could be brought to bear.
He said he understands the accident was serious and the Cuban authorities must be allowed to proceed through their normal process for reviewing these kinds of cases. “But that doesn’t mean our consular officials should be on the sidelines waiting,” he told The Globe.
“They should be urging, pressing, helping, continuing to inquire as to the status of the case to ensure that the case moves along as soon as possible.”
The fact that none of them have paid Mr. LeCompte a visit suggests “that the level of interest at this point is somewhat peripheral and it isn’t directly engaged on our end.”
More than that, Mr. McTeague said, any Canadian travelling to Cuba should be made aware of the risks of driving and renting a car.
“I think it’s critical that the Canadian government, in concert with travel agencies in Canada, provide Canadians full disclosure of the circumstances that might lead to these kinds of unfortunate outcomes,” the Liberal MP said.
There is a warning about the problem on the Foreign Affairs website. But, like many Canadians, the LeCompte’s did not check the site before leaving on their trip.
“We weren’t warned at all,” Ms. LeCompte said. “The travel agents should be warning people. It should be out there not to drive in Cuba.”
Since her son’s plight has been made public, the tale has lit up the telephones on radio talk shows and Canadians have been firing off e-mails to the Cuban Ambassador Teresita de Jesús Vicente Sotolongo and the Cuban Tourism Minister.
But there was no response from the Cuban embassy in Ottawa to queries from The Globe because officials have gone home for the summer.
Friday, July 23, 2010
AIDS ON THE RISE AMONGST IMMIGRANTS
This is a very disturbing report published today by the Globe and Mail. However, it is rather unsurprising given the demographic groups affected. The question is: what is the solution?
A changing epidemic: Canada’s AIDS rate on the rise - The Globe and Mail
A changing epidemic: Canada’s AIDS rate on the rise - The Globe and Mail
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