http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20110412_02 Human smuggling bill still part of Tory governing plan - Canadian PM The Conservatives will not abandon their proposed human-smuggling legislation, even if they govern with another minority after the May 2 vote, the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said. Opposition parties have rejected the proposed legislation - and have said they'll continue to oppose it, the Vancouver Sun reported. "We will absolutely pursue this legislation," Harper said during a campaign stop in Markham, Ont., insisting that many Canadians are on his side. The Conservatives have argued the proposed legislation is needed to control the increasing number of migrants who have landed in Canada, aided by human-smuggling operations. Harper has said these "queue jumpers" threaten the integrity of the "large and generous" Canadian immigration and refugee systems. "It is not acceptable when there are organized operations to smuggle boatloads of people into the country to bypass all of the legitimate channels that the vast majority of immigrants to this country are willing to go through," Harper said. "That is unfair to the country, it's not fair to those hundreds of thousands of immigrants who respect the rules, and it's important we have laws to deal with that problem." The Public Safety Minister Vic Toews introduced Bill C-49 in the House of Commons in October 2010. The bill sought to toughen jail terms and fines for people found guilty of human smuggling - provisions with which all parties agreed. According to the Conservative bill, migrants could be detained for a year or more without review, and barred from becoming permanent residents for five years, regardless of whether their refugee claim is accepted. The legislation was written after the MV Sun Sea, a boat carrying nearly 500 Sri Lankan refugee claimants landed on the coast of British Columbia in August 2010. In October 2009, a ship carrying 76 Sri Lankan Tamils arrived on the same coast. Courtesy : Vancouver Sun