Dear Readers,
Some unabashed good news. I wrote about the case of Maria Kartasheva on Saturday morning, after reading a report by the CBC’s Matthew Kupfer. I was appalled. Ms. Kartasheva is a Russian who now lives in Ottawa and was convicted by a Canadian-sanctioned Moscow court for posting blogs critical of Putin’s war in Ukraine. After she voluntarily brought this conviction to the attention of IRCC officials, her citizenship application was set aside while some minions in the department foolishly sought to reassure themselves that such a Russian crime did not have an equivalent in Canadian law, which could potentially bar her from citizenship.
The good news is that once the case was out in the public eye, IRCC moved swiftly to come out of Kafkaland, stop the nonsense and make things right. The Minister, Marc Miller, announced on social media this afternoon that Ms. Kartasheva was invited to become a Canadian citizen. Ms. Kartasheva had her online ceremony to confirm her citizenship at 3 p.m.
Mr. Miller further explained that:
“Canadian citizenship eligibility rules are designed to catch criminals, not to supprrsss or punish legitimate political dissent.”
Too right. That message needs more than just face-saving on X, and an appearance by the Minister on “Power and Politics.” It needs to be pushed hard within IRCC.
It is also probably time that IRCC undergo independent, external review by one of our review bodies. The job should probably fall to the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, in the first instance.
A good, in fact, great news story. But it needs a sequel to ensure that such mistakes are never repeated and lessons are learned.
The CBC’s Matthew Kupfer deserves a lot of credit for bringing this story out into the open. He reported on the IRCC reversal this afternoon.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/maria-kartasheva-russia-citizenship-conviction-canada-1.7078560
Send him a billet doux, if you are so inclined. His email address is:
matthew.kupfer@cbc.ca
I am a big fan of responsible and ethical journalism. Make no mistake. Thanks for the comments to date.
Such decisions are not made by minions as you say, but by poorly trained or intellectually confused Immigration Officers who under the Law have all authority delegated to them to make decisions. The media caught this one and the Minister intervene with IRCC management who is usually so busy looking after their next promotion or bonus, they have no idea what is going on in the shop. This is only one case of hundreds happening yearly. A retired immig officer.