That leaves 2 wifes and five kids to sponsor.
The article you linked to says men are getting welfare.
(Not families, men, I think that is semantics and how Mr. Ali sees the family structure)

And welfare gets cut off. ( I don’t know how long)

Then what?

I think the point was this - wives 1, 2 and 3 are seen as equals under Cdn law.

The article is vague.

“Muslim men in polygamous marriages — some with a harem of wives — are receiving welfare and social benefits for each of their spouses”

6 hundred thousand Muslims in Canada, what percentage is hundreds?
Bountiful BC is polygamous, some receiving welfare. This is not an issue confined to an urban Muslim population.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/features/polygamy/index.html

He says:

“the man and his main wife and children enter Canada as landed immigrants. The other spouses are sponsored or arrive as visitors to join their husband to share one home.”

Okay. So?

“…receiving benefits didn’t want their identities released because it can lead to questions by authorities on how they entered Canada and can mean an end to their benefits”

Okay. They are recieving more than they are entitled to. It’s called fraud.

“There may be polygamous cases we are not aware off,” Nesbitt said yesterday. “They can apply as single people and we won’t know.”

First generation polygamous families are hiding spousal relationships. Maybe even second generation.

Again. So?:^)
Recieving single benefits may be the only thing that works for the first generation.
I don’t know what the rent allotement for a single is.
Living in one home, with 3 wives - 2 of who receive a single rent supplement does what.
Pay the mortgage?
GTA agencies are aware, I’m not seeing defensiveness or denial here.
Since Mr. Ali said he knows polygamous families - the acknowledgement assists investigators.

The law hasn’t changed.

I thought that prospective immigrants had to demonstrate that they could afford to suport ALL members of their households without becoming a drain on the social systems here in Canada BEFORE they could enter the country?

And, if they sponsor further members of their households after they have already become permanent residents, does this requirement not still apply?

Problem is, what happens to those members of their households if their applications are refused?

I do, however, think we need to be aware of the implications of allowing certain “laws” to exist in parallel with Canadian laws.

Having said that, I ask sincerely, “How does one go about protecting the women in plural marriages if our laws forbid the practice, while also protecting the Canadian people from fraudulent applications for welfare benefits?”

I think we need a Solomon!

Excellent question. So what do we do?

Allow provincial governments to continue to root out fraudsters of course. They are very good at it.

No man is permitted under any law to marry another wife when they land in Canada. Nor are they permitted to sponsor pretend spouses. Some will try.

Abuse and honour killings are not just occuring in Muslim communities, we see it in other immigrant communities.
A case in a Hindu family in B.C. is well known.
The murder of a daughter ordered by the family in Canada occurred in India in 2003.
No one will be brought to justice.
The husband is in an Indian jail falsely charged. He was beaten within an inch of his life and watched his wife killed.

5 thousand women are victims of honour killings every year around the world.

Laws and benefits can and are taken advantage of by some across all segments of society.
As you say if you want to you can drive a truck through loopholes.
I don’t think you are misinformed at all.

As I stated welfare fraud occurs in about 3% of cases.
We can stop using criminalised language about all welfare recepients, and we can speak up when vote seeking politicans or fear based groups do so.

Catch cheaters, educate, encourage women to apply for what is rightfully theirs under Canadian secular law.
Protect them when they do.

What suggestions or ideas have you thought about might be helpful?

Meanwhile, those who genuinely require assistance cannot get it because the government is too busy trying to make sure that those who do apply are not trying to be fraudulent. Kind of like everybody is considered guilty until proven innocent.

Just what this has to do with sharia law is, well,… absolutely nothing, I guess. A bit of a tangent to say the least. Except that I think that our laws are being taken advantage of by a few unscrupulous(sp?) people, and this article is an example of that.

I am not an expert in sharia law, but what I have read suggests that some peoples’ interpretation therof could lead to many more women being taken advantage of, and many women and young girls having to suffer physical abuse and even “honour killings” to satisfy someone’s interpretation of that law. Maybe I have been misinformed?

Anyway, I believe that allowing this law to stand in Canada is a slippery slope that we need to be very careful about, and I have heard that it IS being contemplated.

The full text is here.

http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/family/

If Mr. Ali is saying husbands are filing for benefits for more than one wife or dependent that is illegal.
But I’m not clear what he is saying.
The law says each wife files her own claim.

Under Islamic law men are obligated to support their wives, wives have no obligation to support their husband.
Under the OFLA spouses have legal recourse to division of property and support rights and if they require benefits they file separately.

Fraud accounts for about 3% of benefit recepients, most people believe it’s much higher.

It’s the law to recognize legal marriages from other countries in most countries, not just Canada.

If you were married in in Tongo, came to Canada and had to show you were legally married to gain Canadian citizenship, Canada would check Tongo law and record and your marriage would be recognized if it was legal in Tongo.

I believe at last count there were 6 hundred thousand Muslims in Canada.

The same law applies with Bountiful B.C., although I am not sure how many wives are currently receiving welfare.

Pologamy is the most common form of marriage worldwide.
What percentage of immigrants are in plural marriages in Canada?

As Ruth Glenhill noted at The Times, pologamy’s discarded women are being put in mental hospitals.
That is not acceptable under British common law.

What is occurring in Canada when immigrant wives are tossed away by their husbands?

Fri, February 8, 2008

Harems pay off for MuslimsIslamic leaders: Hundreds in GTA get extra welfare for polygamous unions
By TOM GODFREY, SUN MEDIA

Mumtaz Ali: “Very liberal-minded country”. (Sun Media Photo)

Hundreds of GTA Muslim men in polygamous marriages — some with a harem of wives — are receiving welfare and social benefits for each of their spouses, thanks to the city and province, Muslim leaders say.

Mumtaz Ali, president of the Canadian Society of Muslims, said wives in polygamous marriages are recognized as spouses under the Ontario Family Law Act, providing they were legally married under Muslim laws abroad.

“Polygamy is a regular part of life for many Muslims,” Ali said yesterday. “Ontario recognizes religious marriages for Muslims and others.”

He estimates “several hundred” GTA husbands in polygamous marriages are receiving benefits. Under Islamic law, a Muslim man is permitted to have up to four spouses.

However, city and provincial officials said legally a welfare applicant can claim only one spouse. Other adults living in the same household can apply for welfare independently.

The average recipient with a child can receive about $1,500 monthly, city officials said.

FAMILY LAW ACT

In addressing the issue of polygamous marriages, the preamble to the Ontario Family Law Act states: “In the definition of ’spouse,’ a reference to marriage includes a marriage that is actually or potentially polygamous, if it was celebrated in a jurisdiction whose system of law recognizes it as valid. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.3, s. 1 (2).”

“There are many people in the community who are taking advantage of this,” Ali said. “This is a law and there’s nothing wrong with it.”

Immigration officials said yesterday that polygamous marriages aren’t allowed in Canada, but that contradicts the provincial law.

“Canada is a very liberal-minded country,” Ali said. “Canada is way ahead of Britain in this respect.”

He said Britain recently began permitting husbands to collect benefits for each of their wives.

The British government recently admitted that nearly a thousand men are living legally with multiple wives in Britain. Although the families are entitled to claim social security for each wife, the department for work and pensions said it has not counted how many are on benefits.

In Canada, Ali said, the man and his main wife and children enter Canada as landed immigrants. The other spouses are sponsored or arrive as visitors to join their husband to share one home.

POSSIBLE FRAUD

The families receiving benefits didn’t want their identities released because it can lead to questions by authorities on how they entered Canada and can mean an end to their benefits, Ali said.

Brenda Nesbitt, the city’s director of social services, said benefits are only paid to one spouse and names and addresses are cross-checked for possible fraud.

“There may be polygamous cases we are not aware off,” Nesbitt said yesterday. “They can apply as single people and we won’t know.”

Ontario Community and Social Services spokesman Erike Botond said a social assistance benefit may only include one spouse. “Other adults residing in the same dwelling place as a recipient and their spouse may apply as individuals.”

“I can assure you that polygamy is not recognized under immigration legislation,” immigration spokesman Karen Shadd-Evelyn said yesterday. “A conjugal relationship, whether involving marriage or a common-law partnership, must be exclusive.”

Councillor Rob Ford said taxpayers’ money should be spent on education and schools instead.

“This is wrong,” Ford said yesterday. “They should put a stop to this immediately.”