18/01/2018
We received this great email from the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network this morning. If you are not following their important work, please join their email list!
"HIV, Immigration and Progress (Finally!)
People living with HIV continue to face discrimination in many forms, including unnecessary barriers to their freedom of movement. Sadly, Canada is not a beacon of hope for many—we have a long and unfortunate history of excluding immigrants with disabilities, including people living with HIV.
But after many years of hard work, some important changes are on the way.
Today, Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) states that foreign nationals cannot immigrate to Canada if their health condition—or that of a family member—might cause “excessive demand” on health or social services. As a result, people living with HIV are generally deemed to be medically inadmissible because of the cost of antiretroviral medication.
In November, staff from the Legal Network and the HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO) appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration where they rallied with other organizations to call for an end to Canada’s excessive demand regime. They argued that it violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and Canada’s international human rights obligations; is not in line with the IRPA’s objectives; and is costly, cumbersome and an inefficient process to manage.
Committee members agreed, and recommended that the Government of Canada repeal the offending measures. We are hopeful that Parliament will do just that; you can read more about why this repeal is urgently needed in our recent opinion editorial:
https://ricochet.media/en/2081
Also in November, lawyers from HALCO and Jordan Battista appeared on behalf of the Legal Network and HALCO to make submissions on an important case before the Federal Court of Canada. They argued that the Immigration Appeal Division’s decision to refuse an applicant’s appeal to sponsor her parents due to her father’s HIV should be judicially reviewed because it perpetuates HIV-related stigma by relying on discriminatory stereotypes of people living with HIV. The Federal Court agreed with us, and referred the matter back for redetermination by a differently constituted panel. For more about the case, you can read our factum and the Federal Court decision:
http://bit.ly/2DpCedz
http://bit.ly/2mTzn1Y
Finally, a little history lesson: leading up to the 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto, the Legal Network and others worked tirelessly to ensure that people living with HIV who wanted to visit Canada did not have to disclose their status. But in 2016, visa-exempt visitors travelling to Canada by air were required to complete an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) form, an online entry requirement that prompted people living with HIV to call us after reading a vague question in the eTA that was unclear about whether they need to disclose their status.
Today, we have clarity, and the news is good.
We worked with immigration lawyers to bring this issue to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. In 2017, the department changed the wording to make it clear that a person does not need to disclose their HIV-positive status.
Whether visiting or immigrating to Canada, people living with HIV and other disabilities deserve the same rights as everyone else. 2018 could prove to be a banner year for Canada if Parliament follows the recommendations laid out for it.
In solidarity,
The Legal Network"
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