It may come as a surprise for Canadians to learn that our Federal government separates families in perpetuity and in the process treats some innocent FAMILIES worse than criminals

Almost unnoticed, a seemingly innocuous provision to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in 2002 allows the permanent separation of family members, including parents and children.

So what was this little legislative change that even Government officials didn't pick up on for several months?

Section 117 (9) (d) states that if a permanent resident failed to disclose a family member at the time of his or her own immigration application, that person is excluded FOREVER from the family class.

By virtue of being excluded, that the person is NEVER sponsorable by the family member.

People who accidentally, inadvertently, or intentionally fail to include spouses or children such as common-law spouses, illegitimate children, for whatever reason, are permanently barred from being able to sponsor those people to Canada.

This little legislative gem is also retroactive.

This means it can reach back to any non-disclosure made years earlier when people could never have anticipated such a situation.

Why would the Government bring in such provision? The answer is: To reduce its case load to the Immigration Appeal Division.

A permanent resident or a citizen of Canada is able to sponsor family members. In some instances, people fail to disclose family members, sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally.

In the past, they were able to explain the reasons for failure to disclose these family members at an Immigration Appeal Division hearing and a board member could decide whether that reason was justified or not.

If so, the person could be sponsored, if not the person was excluded. But for the sake of expediency and reducing case load this regulatory provision has allowed for permanent elimination from the family class of non-disclosed family members.

Let's compare this situation to where a criminal intentionally conceals his criminal past or an applicant produces fraudulent evidence in support of an application for permanent residence.

Misrepresentation renders an applicant inadmissible to Canada. Whether it was done intentionally or not, the penalty is a two year ban on that person being able to apply to come to Canada.

Yet forgetting or failing to disclose a family member incurs a permanent lifetime ban - and all for the sake of administrative expediency!

Even some immigration officials agree that this is onerous and harsh.

I urge Minister Volpe to put the weight of the seriousness of any nondisclosure back where it belongs in the Immigration Appeal Division where the circumstances can be properly assessed and genuine family members can be reunited in Canada.

At the minimum, treat these cases in the same way as 'criminal' 'FRAUDULENT' misrepresentation and impose a two-year penalty, not a lifetime ban.

Family reunification is a cornerstone of our Immigration Law. Let's give family relationships the recognition they deserve, not punish people without even a hearing.