Slow Acting Poison
When Judy Sgro fell on the Liberal sword, she was merely the latest in a long line of disasters to hold the immigration portfolio. See how heartless, vote slurping policies resonate down the years in this blast from the past: "Immigration Minister Judy Sgro passionately defends Canada's controversial decision to accept hundreds of HIV-positive newcomers in recent years. ... She has received letters recently telling her to keep out of Canada anyone infected with the virus that causes AIDS. In admitting about 400 HIV-positive people annually, the country is extending a helping hand to the truly desperate, Sgro said. 'I'm very glad that Canada has the opportunity to provide a safe haven for them. I think it's part of the compassion that Canada shows.'" (Canadian Press, July 23, 2004)
Over those six years, Canadians have paid a high price for Ms. Sgro's compassion. This fall, AIDS spreader William Imona-Russel (Nigeria) was sentenced to nine years in prison for assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon, threatening death, attempted aggravated sexual assault to endanger life and two counts of sexual assault. On one occasion, the Nigerian charmer raped a now infected woman whilst holding a power drill to her head. He'd earlier siphoned $9,000 from her bank account. He plans to appeal what he calls his "wrongful conviction," but still faces separate first-degree murder charges in the stabbing death of Yasmin Ashareh, 20, whose body was found stuffed in a garbage bag in 2006. AIDS spreader Johnson Aziga (Uganda) was convicted last spring on two counts of first degree murder, 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of attempted sexual assault. A total of 16 victims came forward, excluding of course, the two women who'd already succumbed to AIDS-related lymphoma. Five others have been infected. A murder conviction carries a life sentence with no parole eligibility for 25 years, but Aziga has instructed his lawyer to seek out more legal aid to fund his appeal.
AIDS spreader Suwalee "Ricky" Iamkhong (Thailand) arrived in 1995 on the stripper exemption, "fresh" off a stint working as a prostitute in Hong Kong. A positive HIV test proved no impediment to entry and she jiggled at Toronto's Zanzibar Tavern until her health failed in 2004. She infected Canadian Percy Whiteman at some point during their marriage. At her 2007 trial, Iamkhong said (12 years after landing, she still needed a Thai interpreter), "I have only Grade 4 education and I didn't understand this matter of HIV. I didn't consult anyone because I didn't realize the HIV virus would be this deadly." Said the stripper-prostitute to the Bishop. Sickly Ricky recently won an appeal to shave a single day off her 2007 sentence -- the very sentence she had requested at the time -- which means Canadians will now have the additional pleasure of funding her fight to dodge deportation.
In the fall of 2008, AIDS spreader Clato Lual Mabior (Sudan) was sentenced to 14 years for withholding his HIV status from 11 sexual partners -- some as young as 12. Police initially said they believed as many as 45 girls and women may have been victimized by the man, however, Mabior was only tried in relation to 11. As you may have already guessed, Mabior is appealing his sentence. At the time Mabior was sentenced, a second, unnamed AIDS spreader (Zambian) appeared in another Winnipeg courtroom. This mystery man, known only as "the 35-year-old African immigrant who can't be named under a court order" infected at least one partner. Given that his identity remains a closely guarded secret, it is unlikely other victims will ever make a nuisance of themselves. He will doubtless appeal in due course.
In June 2008, Yonatan Gezahegne Mekonnen (Ethiopia) was charged in Brampton with two counts of aggravated sexual assault for failing to disclose his positive HIV status. In 2007, AIDS spreader and one time Saskatchewan Roughrider, Trevis Smith (Alabama) was sentenced to six years for aggravated assault. The two women who brought the charges against him had not tested positive at the time of the trial, but a third (not involved in the hearing) had contracted the virus. Smith twice violated bail conditions when he was discovered snogging with yet more unsuspecting females. He was deported on completion of one-third of his sentence.
In 2006, AIDS spreader and soccer coach Adrien Nduwayo (Burundi) was sentenced to 15 years for failing to disclose his status to 7 unsuspecting victims. Three of his conquests contracted the virus; two of whom fell pregnant. He counselled one girl to seek an abortion and gallantly attempted to push her down a flight of stairs.
In 1993, AIDS spreader Charles Ssenyonga (Uganda), proved so riddled with the virus that he actually died before a verdict was pronounced on his lengthy history of wilful deceit with multiple partners. He infected 20.
Victims can thank Canada's stifling climate of political correctness quite as much as diabolical immigration policies. These are heterosexual transmissions. For 30 years, the safe sex message has been an inescapable part of the landscape for gay men, but no word has been uttered -- or will ever be uttered -- about the risk of engaging in heterosexual hanky panky with immigrants from AIDS hot spots. Well, publicizing the danger would just be so awkward and, after all, they can't kill that many Canadians can they? "A report by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control found that about 16 per cent of all new infections in Canada are linked to people from countries where HIV is prevalent, yet they make up only 1.5 per cent of the Canadian population. The 2005 figure means the infection rate was almost 13 times greater for immigrants -- or those connected to them -- from HIV-endemic countries than for Canadians. ... Between 2002 and 2006 there were 2,567 immigration applicants who tested positive for HIV during their medical examinations ... of those HIV-positive applicants, 89 per cent were determined to be medically admissible to the country. [And remember, in Canada] a person with HIV ... is not inadmissible outright." (Canadian Press, July 17, 2008)
Among refugees, HIV infection is not in itself sufficient cause to grant asylum, but it is not justification for withholding approval either. Accordingly, at the XVI International AIDS Conference in September 2006 in Toronto, an incredible 160 HIV positive delegates would launch refugee claims. By April 14, 2008, the Toronto Star was able to report that most of the delegates had been successful, with only "a minority turned down." Seriously, where do most Canadians want costly HIV resources invested? "From 1980-2007 at least 237 Canadian children were perinatally infected with AIDS, and 2,358 diagnosed as HIV-positive." (Financial Post, April 8, 2009) How many of these innocents were the product of the reckless disregard of people like Ssenyonga or Nduwayo will never be known. What we do know is that Canada does not need to import lethal weapons, despite what discredited former immigration ministers may believe makes for a good soundbite.
[This article appears in the January, 2010 issue of the CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE. Published monthly, the CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE is available by subscription for $30 per year. You can subscribe by sending a cheque or VISA number and expiry date to CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE, P.O. Box 332, Rexdale, ON., M9W 5L3.]
