Canadian Bigotry : the case of Gustavo Gutierrez

CBC Radio's The Current ran a story a few days ago about a Juarez police detective commander, Gustavo Gutierre, whose application for asylum in Canada had been rejected: http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2010/201003/20100310.html. Gutierre has had repeated threats on his life (and that of his family) for refusing to take bribes from various drug cartels in a city that is plagued by organized crime.

While it is increasingly common knowledge that the situation in Mexico is particularly dangerous for those working in law enforcement, our current hard-line policies on refugee claims from Mexican citizens should really cause us to be ashamed. This policy is clearly adopted to please our neighbors to the south and we are quickly losing our reputation as a country that promotes fairness and tolerance towards both future immigrants and refugee claimants.

Writing on this story for Embassy Magazine, Jim Creskey suggests that "Its Time for Canada to get up to speed on Mexico's realities". He continues:

"There is a reason why Mexican police and military wear balaclavas when they are participating in raids or acting in a very public capacity. They know that if the wrong people identify them, they and their families are no longer safe.

And that is exactly the point. The people who are most responsible for carrying out public security in Mexico are no longer safe themselves. The Mexican government is powerless to protect them. Yet when these same people turn up in Canadian cities asking for asylum, they are turned down.

Reading Canadian court decisions on Mexican refugee claimants is a frustrating exercise in rearview mirror decision making. Canada's courts and quasi-judicial Refugee Board are still acting on a tragically outdated way of looking at security in Mexico.