VANCOUVER – On a dismal spring day, I headed out into a Vancouver deluge to follow up on an anonymous tip, something about an immigration raid and a camera crew.
What I uncovered was a bizarre incident that led to weeks of stories that, taken together, present a bizarre portrait of Canadian society at the intersection of condo culture, globalization and reality TV.
Earlier that day at a rain-soaked construction site, Canada Border Services agents had conducted a raid for illegal workers while a TV crew circled. The crew was collecting footage for a “documentary” series called Border Security, which, I would learn, had been personally authorized by then-federal public safety minister Vic Toews.
Reaction to the story was swift and polarized as it hit the national news.
Some people felt vulnerable migrants had been exploited to further the government’s law-and-order agenda, while others felt justice had been served.
I saw a complex picture of Canada’s informal economy and immigration policy emerge as workers were deported, families were separated and the employer who hired them escaped prosecution, as is often the case.
To this day I am left with more questions than answers. Just who is it that is really building this country? And will we ever set limits to the Orwellian creep in a world where the camera seems to know no bounds?
