Visa controls on Mexico ‘humiliating,' senator says

Relations will improve ‘when you change prime ministers,' according to senior Mexican official


Miriam Llorete, a Mexican tourist, pushes her daughter as she follows her mother during a visit to Parliament Hill on July 14, 2009.

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Michael Valpy
From Saturday's Globe and Mail Published on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009 12:41AM EDT Last updated on Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 3:18AM EDT

A senior Mexican senator and former foreign affairs minister yesterday called Canada's visa controls on Mexico a humiliation and questioned whether Canadian-Mexican relations will improve as long as Stephen Harper is Prime Minister.

In a blunt speech to a Toronto business and academic gathering, Senator Rosario Green Macias detailed the information she was required to provide to the Canadian government to enter Canada – proof of property ownership, her last six bank statements, a letter from the Mexican senate stating she is a senator and personal information about other members of her family.

“That has to stop,â€