Canada’s tale of broken treaties

By the time you read this, Michael Le will be on his way to stand trial for one of the worst gangland slayings in the history of British Columbia.

The 24-year-old alleged leader of the notorious Red Scorpion gang, who also goes by the name Quang Vin Thang, was arrested in The Philippines last week.

He has been charged with the October 2007 Surrey Six slayings, which saw two innocent young men get killed as well.

Shortly after his arrest, Antonio Rivera, The Philippines deputy of operations and deportation with the Bureau of Immigration's Interpol Unit in Manila, said a team of three RCMP officers will fetch Thang and escort him to Canada as soon as the bureau’s board of commissioners issues the order for his deportation.

Now that’s what you call an effective system based on mutual legal assistance treaties.

Fortunately for us, Le was busted in a country that abides by the treaty it has signed.

Canada, on the other hand does not.

Chances are if Le was a Filipino national, wanted in The Philippines for a similar crime and was caught creeping into Vancouver, he would spend the next decade or so using the Canadian system to avoid the long arm of the law.

Be it deportation or extradition, the way Canada deals with international fugitives who have made their way to our shores is heavily influenced by politics, judges and lawyers.

Throw in the Canadian Charter of Rights, under which fugitives can seek any number of protections, and it will take years to send a wanted person home.

When it comes to extradition, wealthy fugitives live the high life in Canada while their high-priced lawyers dance around our legal system, which has limitless options for the accused.

We have fugitive banker Rakesh Saxena who has for over a decade stymied all efforts by Thailand to get him to answer charges of embezzling $88 million from the Bangkok Bank of Commerce. Come July 2010, the fraud charges against him in Thailand will become statute-barred and he could walk free.

We have fugitive Mexican labour leader Napoleon Gomez Urrutia, accused of embezzling $61 million from a union fund, who says he sought refuge in Canada on the advice of his lawyers. Proclaiming his innocence, he wants to fight his case in Canada at your expense.

The Philippines in particular has been harshly critical of Canada while we afford their fugitives protection - and in some cases a permanent escape from their courts.

We have Gloria and Faustino Chingkoe in Richmond, B.C. accused of allegedly defrauding The Philippines government of $75 million.

Ironically, our judges have scolded The Philippines for having a tardy judicial system while allowing Rodolfo Pacificador to stay in Canada. He is wanted in The Philippines for his alleged role in the assassination of a provincial governor. Earlier, we granted Ferdinand Marcos crony Dewey Go Dee, wanted for plunder, asylum in Canada.

India is totally frustrated with Canada because it is unable to get its hands on a whole range of fugitives, including Subhash Agrawal of Ottawa, wanted in India as a suspect in the 2003 murder of his sister, Canadian Dr. Asha Goel; Harnek Singh Grewal, who leads a powerful Sikh sect, wanted for allegedly inciting a deadly riot; and Malkiat Kaur Sidhu and Surjit Singh Badesha of Maple Ridge, wanted for the alleged contract killing of Sidhu's daughter.

Similarly, our deportation system is in shambles.

China has many of its most wanted seeking refugee status in Canada after they fled charges in their homeland.

Leading the pack is Lai Changxing, an accused smuggling mastermind who has been fighting to stay in Canada for almost a decade. Others include several bankers accused in multi-million dollar embezzlement schemes.

Even when deportation orders are issued, those slated for return find ways to stay in Canada, like Mikhail Lennikov, a former Russian KGB agent who has sought sanctuary at Vancouver's First Lutheran Church.

The list of fugitives who have made Canada their safe haven is long and large.

It is an ugly reputation that is growing because our politicians, without exception, do not have the wherewithal to institute extradition/deportation protocols that lead to speedy and effective removal.

Canada has signed mutual legal assistance treaties and has extradition concords with dozens of countries around the world.

When we want a fugitive returned to Canada, these agreements are enforced without delay by our partners.

When our partners want their fugitives returned from Canada, these treaties are not worth the paper they are written on.