Market News

OTTAWA — Canadian companies are coming under fire over their ties to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as U.S. President Donald Trump pursues a mass deportation campaign to expel vast numbers of immigrants.

Canadian defence manufacturer Roshel and Vancouver-based companies Hootsuite and Jim Pattison Group are being raked publicly over their ties to the immigration enforcement agency — especially in the wake of recent killings of civilians by federal agents in Minnesota.

Pattison building

The United States Department of Homeland Security is planning to buy a building in Virginia owned by the property arm of Vancouver-based conglomerate Jim Pattison Group to use as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement "processing facility."

The department sent a letter to the Hanover County planning department in Hanover, Va., last Wednesday saying it intends to "purchase, occupy and rehabilitate" the warehouse property.

In its letter, the U.S. department said it intends to make modifications to the property that include construction, equipment and security upgrades.

In a press release issued last Thursday, Hanover County said it did "not initiate" the project and was told by Homeland Security that it had 30 days to respond to the letter.

The county said its board of supervisors would meet this week to consider its next steps, and the meeting’s agenda notes the board would consult lawyers about zoning laws related to "federal government uses."

Emily Lowan, leader of the Green Party of B.C., said in a post on social media that billionaire Jimmy Pattison’s businesses should be boycotted over the pending sale.

Some in the community worry that the facility could bring with it an intensification of local immigration efforts and a crackdown on protesters.

Hootsuite

U.S. procurement records show another Vancouver-based company, Hootsuite, is providing social media services to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE.

The contract between Homeland Security and New York-based Seneca Strategic Partners is to provide "social media management platform Hootsuite and support services," and is worth up to US$2.8 million, according to a U.S. government procurement website.

The site does not explain the relationship between Hootsuite and Seneca, which describes itself as a federal government contracting business wholly owned by the Seneca Nation of Indians.

A protest outside Hootsuite’s Vancouver headquarters is planned for Friday by a group called Democracy Rising, which is urging Hootsuite to "cancel its contracts and publicly apologize."