Thread: Murdered Alberta woman Jenna Cartwright 'betrayed' by Canadian immigration board, say

By Michael Platt, Calgary Sun
September 09, 2013

The body of Jenna Cartwright, 21, a young mom from Red Deer, had been discovered in a ditch near Olds — and police believe the man ordered out of Canada two years earlier killed her.

“I cannot believe this has happened, I honestly feel betrayed by our government — we should be able to rely on our government and know they are keeping us safe.”

Murdered Alberta woman Jenna Cartwright 'betrayed' by Canadian immigration board, says sister


Murder victim Jenna Cartwright with her daughter Jayda, now 4 years old. Cartwright was an Alberta woman killed two years ago. Her family is outraged after learning her accused killer, a Somalian immigrant with a lengthy record, was ordered deported in 2009 but was released by the Immigration and Refugee Board. Pick-up-photo/Calgary Sun/QMI Agency

His rights, as a convicted drug trafficker ordered deported to Somalia, were deemed more important than the guaranteed safety of Canadian citizens.

And so, despite warnings that Bashir Gaashaan was a flight risk who posed a danger to the public, Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board let him go — a freedom that lasted exactly one year and eight months.

On June 15, 2011, RCMP in Alberta announced they had arrested Gaashaan, charging him with first-degree murder, unlawful confinement, offering an indignity to human remains, sexual assault and trafficking in cocaine.

The body of Jenna Cartwright, 21, a young mom from Red Deer, had been discovered in a ditch near Olds — and police believe the man ordered out of Canada two years earlier killed her.

“I’m so angry, even more angry than before — the whole thing is sickening,” says Marissa Cartwright, Jenna’s twin sister.

For the first time, she’s having a look at documents obtained by the Sun detailing Gaashaan’s release by the Immigration and Refugee Board.

“I am still in such shock about this,” says Cartwright, who started an online petition demanding stricter deportation rules.

“I cannot believe this has happened, I honestly feel betrayed by our government — we should be able to rely on our government and know they are keeping us safe.”

But public safety, apparently, doesn’t trump the comfort of a convicted drug dealer — even one already deemed unfit for Canada.

Given Gaashaan’s upcoming February 2014 trial for murder, the hearing in which the deportee was released from custody now seems infuriatingly naive — especially when the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) wanted the Somali-born drug pusher to stay behind bars until sent home.

“I have no doubt, sir, that you can hold down a steady job and that you can avoid crime. It’s just that if you fall back into alcohol and drug use, then the likelihood that you’ll become involved in crime increases considerably.”

So reads a transcript of the Immigration Board decision in Oct. 2009, in which a board member is speaking to Gaashaan about his taste for drugs, alcohol and dangerous police chases, for which he’d just finished a year-long stint in prison.

The board decided to let Gaashaan out on a $7,500 bond, despite the CBSA calling him a danger and a flight risk — essentially, one federal department fought to protect the public, and another refused to listen.

Why the deported drug dealer was still In Canada at all is another case of government red tape clogging the creaking wheels of justice.

Because Gaashaan arrived from Somalia as a refugee in 1993, the CBSA couldn’t deport him without a “danger opinion”.

That’s an order issued by the Minister of Immigration, stating the danger to Canada outweighs the risk to an individual being sent back to a potentially unsafe country.

Being federal paperwork with legal status, danger opinions are very slow in being completed — and time waiting in jail would have been unfair to poor Gaashaan.

“So if he’s detained, detention is likely to be lengthy. I know that it’s difficult to remove to Somalia at the best of times. Taking all of that into account, I think that the appropriate thing is to release him on terms and conditions,” states the ruling.

And so Gaashaan was released — and then, according to RCMP, he fell back into the same lifestyle, before allegedly murdering Jenna Cartwright and dumping her body in a ditch.

Before he was ordered deported, Gaashaan had asked to stay in Canada, because Somali sounded too dangerous.

“To be quite honest with you, I am not familiar with Somalia at all. From what I hear on the news and that, and Somalia being in a state of emergency, I just want to make an appeal for my case to be heard and to be able to stay in Canada.”

If guilty of murder, Gaashaan faces years in a Canadian jail — meaning he’ll get his wish.

http://www.calgarysun.com/2013/09/08...rd-says-sister

March 30, 2011 my Twin sister Jenna Cartwright was murdered by Bashir Gaashaan.

Bashir Gaashaan is an illegal immigrant that came to canada with his family in the early '90's.

We reported my sister missing April 12, 2011. Jenna's partially clothed body was found in a ditch near Olds, AB May 3, 2011. We are told she died March 30, 2011. Bashir Gaashaan has been charged with first degree murder, unlawful confinement and indignity to human remains. Bashir first pleaded guilty to second degree murder and then when his preliminary hearing came he decided to not sign any documentation or the statement of facts and pleaded not guilty. Trial in now in February 2014.

Bashir has a long list of criminal acts he has committed in the past. Bashir was ordered to stay residing in Toronto, Ontario but kept coming to Red Deer, Alberta. Bashir has been charged with assault, theft, drug trafficking and much more and all crimes were committed in Red Deer, AB.

Why is it that the government didnt deport him after his first crime? why did the government not ensure he was not leaving Toronto. It took him murdering my sister for him to be arrested. All of his other charges will piggy back on the murder charge... so he may serve 15 years in jail TOTAL! it took 2 years until we found out how she died and we are still awaiting trial as Bashir does not want to be deported and is trying to find ways around it.

Bashir will serve his sentence in Alberta and then be shipped back to his country Somalia. Why do we have to pay the price for his crime, the hurt the pain and also all of us tax payers have to pay for him to stay in jail!!

We need this to stop! we need our government to be stricter and to ensure Canadian citizens are not in danger. This petition will help with us to pursue a law suit against the government, and most importantly we want this to never happen to another family again.

Please sign this petition not only for Jenna's family and friends, but for her 4 year old daughter Jayda who will never know her mother!

This petition has nothing to do with race. My family is not racist what so ever, this has to do with immigration laws and we would like to make this clear as we are noticing some are basing this on racism. The issue is not race, or religion.

Please share via email, facebook and twitter. Please sign this petition if you agree, we need alot of signatures to make a difference!
To:
George Vanderburg, Whitecourt MLA
Mary Anne Jablonski, Red Deer MLA
Keith Hobbs, Mayor of Thunder Bay, Ontario
Morris Flewwelling, Mayor of Red Deer, AB
Trevor Thain, Mayor of Whitecourt, AB
Tara Veer, Coucillor - Running for Mayor of Red Deer, AB
Miniter of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Chris Alexander
Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
Cindy Jefferies, Councillor
Send immigrants back to their country after first offence!

Sincerely,
[Your name]

http://www.change.org/en-CA/petition...-first-offence