Toews approved TV show filming B.C. immigration raids

Approval for a reality show production crew to film an immigration raid at a Vancouver construction site camedirectly from the federal government, documents obtained by a Vancouver woman show.

Helesia Luke, whohas a backgroundin television production and now works with non-profits in Vancouver, was troubled by news of theimmigration raid being filmedon Wednesday, so she asked the federal government for the production agreement.

The document, which shereceived within hours, outlines Force FourEntertainment's desireto enter into discussions with the Canadian Border Services Agencyto produce a series onborder security in Canada.

The document wasprepared for Public Safety Minister Vic Toewsand it bears his signature andapproval.

It also says someone from the Prime Minister's Office viewed a demo reel provided by Force Four Entertainment, as well as members of Toews' staff and CBSA senior managers and legal services.

"And to see it go all the way to a ministerial level and be signed off by a minister was just really shocking, actually, because it's so abusive, it's soexploitative," Luke said.

The documentalso discusses how the Border Security show would be a valuable opportunity to promote messages about Canada's commitment to border security.

"They [the CBSA] have the attention of media. They have paid advertising at their disposal. I really thinkit's a stretch to say they have to resort to an agreement with a reality television show to get their story out," Luke said.

Diana Thompson, whose husband wasarrested in the raid in East Vancouver, says he isfacing deportation back to Honduras. Thompson is against the use of footage from the raid for a realitytelevision show, and saidthe filmingmakes the process more hurtful.

"I feel that it makes it that much worse, that these companies are going to profit off a reality show of them tearing families apart," she saidThursday.

Company defends documentary

In a statement sent to media Friday,Rob Bromley, the president of Force Four Entertainment, saidBorder Security is a documentary series that follows strict protocols.

Bromley said the film crew that wasat the CBSA raid on March 13 wasfilming events that were already taking place.

"The situation was in no way orchestrated for the cameras, and no one can be identified on the series without their written permission," the statement read.

In another statement,the companyclarified that in one case,a member of its team asked for signed consent after the detainee had dealt with the CBSA,and without an officer present. The company also said the consentforms are provided in 16 different languages.

Border Services vets footage

Thedocuments outlining the agreement betweenForceFour and the CBSAalso lay out how a potentially negative portrayal of the CBSA would be mitigated througha numberof pre-broadcast federal approvals.

The documents state that the CBSA must approve every segment on the program, and can hold them for a variety of reasons, including privacy violations or national security.

"All rough footage and final episodes are reviewed and approved by the CBSA so that factual inaccuracies, disclosure of restricted information, classified, or law enforcement sensitive materials are removed from aired episodes,"the documentsays.

Luke questions how much the CBSA is subsidizing the show, if they are committing resources to review the show's material.

"I think CBSA is putting in in-kind contributions in the way of staff time. Clearly, they have a huge burden in terms of vetting the footage," she said.

The documents describe the costs of staff time as "not insignificant," but the next couple of lines appear to bewhited out.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has not madea public statement about the show.