Canada: 280,000 skilled worker applications to be wiped out by Immigration Dept.

If a business had huge lineups and long waits for service they would have more staff at more checkouts. That is not the way the government works. The government just lets the lines get longer and longer and the wait times longer and longer. If you complain you are likely to get your file put at the bottom of the pile. Now the lines and waits are impossibly long the solution is to just tell the people they will not be processed at all. Start over and apply under the new rules.

The Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has said elimination of the backlog is necessary so that the government can focus on new applicants who can fill specific labor gaps. Business needs is the focus and that is all that counts. It used to be that family unification was a strong focus. Now if those already here want to get their parents over as well often the line is so long that parents would have to come to Canada in a casket!

David Chalk a Montreal Lawyer remarks:“These people have had the rug pulled out from underneath them,” “The government of Canada invited people who had certain qualifications to apply, these people invested time energy and hope." Too bad. They must be sacrificed on the alter of service to some of those who support and donate to the Conservative Party.

Citizenship and Immigration complains that it is coping with half a decade of application backlogs. So whose fault is that? Certainly it is not the fault of all the applicants who spent time and money going through all the hoops that are required by immigration. For more see this CBC article.

NDP tables motion to block Tory immigration changes

This is from the CBC.
About all this will achieve is to make the Liberals look spineless but everyone already knows they are spineless. Or as the Liberals would put it that Canadians do not want an election now and that they want parliament to work. Working apparently means letting the Conservatives pass whatever they want.


NDP tables motion to block Tory immigration changes
Last Updated: Thursday, April 3, 2008 | 8:10 PM ET Comments37Recommend18CBC News
The NDP introduced a motion on Thursday to prevent the federal government's controversial amendments to Canada's immigration laws from passing with the federal budget.

The move in the House of Commons comes on the same day a group of immigrant service organizations decried the Conservative government's proposed changes to Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, saying the measures place too much power in the hands of the minister in charge.

The proposed changes, which are embedded in the budget implementation bill, propose giving the minister greater selection powers to limit the number of new immigration applicants.

Under the proposed amendments, the bill would allow the government to fast-track applications from the types of immigrants it wants, such as skilled workers, and freeze applications from others.

NDP MP Olivia Chow introduced the motion, which "declines to give second reading" to Bill C-50 because it contains policies that "fail to recognize that all immigration applicants should be treated fairly."

NDP Leader Jack Layton said the proposed changes will make it harder for families to be reunited and accused the government of trying to give the immigration minister the "sole decision-making power to shape Canadian society."

"The changes that are proposed here are going to do irrevocable damage to immigrant families," Layton said.

Liberal deputy leader Michael Ignatieff said the government's change of one word in the existing legislation would give the minister the arbitrary power to reject even those who meet all the visa requirements.

The proposed legislation says a visa or document "may" be issued to an applicant who has already been ruled admissible by immigration officers, while the existing law which says a visa or document "shall" be issued.

"You can't have a fair and just immigration system without rules," Ignatieff said. "But with a stroke of the pen, the minister has written fairness and justice out of the immigration system."

Government House leader Peter Van Loan charged the opposition members were "mischaracterizing" the measures, which he said come at a time when Canada's labour force faces critical shortages and needs more, not fewer, immigrants.

The Tories have argued the measures are necessary to reduce a current backlog of more than 900,000 immigration applicants, which has created wait times of between three and six years for even those who meet all the requirements.

But critics have accused the Tories of sneaking the clauses through Parliament via the budget bill without a full and open debate to examine potential concerns over the changes.

"That's putting a lot of arbitrary power in the hands of one person that is subject to change by the whims of the different government of the day," immigration lawyer Amina Sherazee said Thursday during a press conference in Toronto organized by the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants.

Tories 'have taken action' on backlog: Van Loan
Van Loan also defended the Tories' overall record on immigration, citing record numbers of immigrants entering the country this year and a 40 per cent reduction in wait times for family reunification cases, as well as the government's apology and settlement to those subject to Canada's head tax on Chinese immigrants.

"When it comes to family reunification, we have taken action," Van Loan said.

Ignatieff, in turn, charged that the backlog had increased by 100,000 people during the 27-month period the Conservatives have been in power.

Immigration Minister Diane Finley has said the measures will be compliant with the charter and will not create a system in which the minister would intervene on a case-by-case basis, but instead offer guidelines to immigration officers working with applications.

The Liberals ensured the vote on Bill C-50, a confidence motion, did not bring down Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, but the bill must still be debated and sent to committee before returning to the House for a final vote.

Both the Bloc Québécois and NDP voted against the bill.

Opposition parties target Tories on immigration tactics

This is from the CBC. Tacking on things to bills is common in the U.S. As an admirer of the U.S. Harper has imported the practice into the Canadian parliament. It is a heinous practice since it usually lumps together matters that have nothing to do with one another and it is impossible to defeat one issue but pass the other. Not that this will make much difference since the Liberals will probably pass anything until their polls improve. No doubt the Liberals disapprove of the content of the immigration law changes and will wax eloquent about how horrible they are. This will give the new members of the Liberal team a chance to exercise their vocal chords before they sit on their hands.



Opposition parties target Tories on immigration tactics

Opposition members accused the government on Monday of using a parliamentary trick to push through sweeping changes to Canada's immigration policies before the House of Commons' annual two-week Easter break.

The proposed changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act are embedded in the 136-page budget-implementation bill the Tories tabled in the House earlier this month.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said the government must allow for an open and complete debate on the proposed measures, which propose greater selection powers to limit the number of new immigration applicants.

"Instead of presenting independent legislation, why are they trying to sneak this change through the back door?" Dion said.

Dion also decried the proposed changes, saying they would give the immigration minister exorbitant powers to choose some immigrants while shutting the door completely on other candidates.

The Liberals ensured the vote on Bill C-50, a confidence motion, did not bring down Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, but the bill must still be debated and sent to committee before returning to the House for a final vote. Both the Bloc Québécois and NDP voted against the bill.
The prime minister responded by saying the measures were necessary to deal with a backlog of more than 800,000 immigration applicants left over by the previous Liberal government.

He said the backlogs made it harder to ensure the country's workforce needs were being met and called the five and six-year delays some applicants face "unfair."

'We need immigrants'
"That's why we made it a confidence motion … and we appreciate the support of the Liberals," Harper added.

But New Democrat MP Thomas Mulcair said the government had "stolen a page from the American playbook" and defied parliamentary tradition by including the measures in the budget bill that "relied on the weakness" of the Liberals.

He also accused the Tories of trying to create a system where some nationalities will be excluded from Canada.

Immigration Minister Diane Finley defended the changes, saying they would create a "streamlined" system of handling applicants.

"We need immigrants," Finley said. "We need their talent."

The changes would give the immigration minister the authority to instruct immigration officers to set limits on what types of immigrants — "by category or otherwise" — can have their applications processed each year.