2003-03-19

I was distressed to read that this type of racial harassment is not limited to our neighbours to the south. At least here in Canada, the woman was not deported, as happened to another Canadian who was passing through an American airport.

My wife is visibly of South Asian ancestry and she is Muslim. She's scheduled to go to California for technical training in a few weeks. Suddenly the prospect that she will be detained, harassed and possibly even put on a flight to somewhere in Asia seems not that remote.

I had hoped that after the U.S. incident, our government would take strong measures to safeguard our citizens travelling abroad. Instead, the problem seems to have spread to our own immigration staff. Perhaps it is time the Star did an investigation into racial profiling at our borders.

Gary Dale, Provincial NDP Candidate
Scarborough East