Harper challenges opposition MPs on human-smuggling bill

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he won't abandon his minority government's proposed human-smuggling legislation, despite opposition party vows to vote it down.

Insisting that a broad range of Canadians are on the government's side, Harper said Thursday the proposed legislation is needed to deal with an increase in the number of migrants landing in Canada with the assistance of "dangerous" human-smuggling operations.

"I think Canadians of all ethnic backgrounds, old Canadians, new Canadians, urban Canadians, rural Canadians, have been very clear on this. They expect Parliament to act," Harper told reporters at a news conference in Mississauga, Ont. "We will continue to push that legislation forward."

Harper appeared to be serving notice that he, like Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, wants to force MPs from the three opposition parties to stand in the House of Commons and follow through on their promises to vote against the legislation.

No date has been set for the legislation to come back to the Commons for a second-reading vote — or approval in principle.

The legislation, introduced in October, would toughen jail terms and fines for those found guilty of human smuggling. Those provisions have been widely embraced by all parties.

Opposition revolves almost exclusively around measures that would penalize asylum seekers who are deemed to have paid human smugglers to get them to Canada.

Among other things, the migrants could be detained for a year or more without review and they would be barred from becoming permanent residents for five years, even if their refugee claim is accepted.

Harper has taken a keen interest in the legislation, which was written after a boat loaded with almost 500 Sri Lankan refugee claimants landed on the British Columbia coast in August. The previous October, a ship carrying 76 Sri Lankan Tamils arrived on the same coast.

Harper and his senior ministers have consistently portrayed migrants who arrive by boat as "queue jumpers" who threaten the integrity of the Canadian immigration and refugee system.

"Canadians are very clear," Harper said Thursday. "We need changes in our laws to make sure the incentives exist in the system to encourage and reward those people who choose to go through the proper channels."

Liberal, New Democrat and Bloc MPs say the proposed legislation should be stripped of measures that would "punish the victims" of smuggling and concentrate solely on catching and penalizing the profiteers who smuggled the migrants here by land, air or sea.

They say people fleeing persecution often are forced to pay smugglers to help orchestrate their escape, and that the government is unfairly branding them as queue jumpers.

Kenney criticized the opposition for deciding to try to kill the bill at second-reading stage, saying MPs should allow it to go to committee for further discussion and possible amendments.

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said the bill is not salvageable, and the government needs to go back to the drawing board.

Kenney has not ruled out talks with the opposition, nor has he ruled out making the second-reading vote a confidence matter that could trigger an election — a scenario that appears unlikely at this stage.