I discussed marriage fraud on Alberta Primetime in early 2014. Michael: First comes love, then comes marriage, unless it's all a ruse for Canadian citizenship. A 60-year-old Alberta man is the first in our province to be charged by the Canada Border Services Agency for an alleged marriage of convenience, a case falling under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which was given new teeth in 2012 as part of the federal government's much-publicized promise of cracking down on marriage fraud. Is that promise being fulfilled? Joining us now, Raj Sharma, an immigration lawyer with the Calgary firm, Stewart Sharma Harsanyi. Good evening, Raj. Good to see you. Raj Sharma: Good to be with you. Michael: All right. This is the first case where border service investigations have resulted in charges here in Alberta. It's also being reported that since April of last year of 10 cases where there were charges, 8 have been concluded; 6 have resulted in convictions. What does that say to you about the government's track record since implementing changes? Raj Sharma: Well, Michael, the key is to look at this in the overall context. The overall context is that Minister Kenney himself has said that...
Read more →