Immigration System Near ‘Collapse’
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Bruce Campion-Smith, Toronto Star, April 29, 2008
Unless “urgent” action is taken to tackle “systemic” problems, Canada’s backlog of immigration applications could grow to 1.5 million by 2012, up from 925,000 now, and newcomers will face a 10-year wait, Immigration Minister Diane Finley told a Commons committee yesterday.
“The current system, if left unchanged, is on track to collapse under its own weight. The system needs fixing,” Finley said.
“We are facing real and serious international competition for the talents and skills that we need to fill,” she said, calling for a “renewed” vision for the immigration system.
The immigration minister was appearing before the finance committee to explain the government’s proposed reforms, contained in Bill C-50, to speed the processing of new applicants. Last year, the government issued 251,000 permanent resident visas.
Changes to the immigration act would give Finley the power to issue “instructions” to her department to give priority to categories of immigrants whose job skills are in demand in Canada. At the same time, she would have the power to refuse applications in other categories.
But the proposals have stirred fear that the minister and bureaucrats will have too much power to pick and choose broad classes of immigrants, leaving many hopeful newcomers shut out.
“Under her scheme, the minister will be picking winners and losers. Who are these losers?” said New Democrat MP Olivia Chow (Trinity Spadina).
But Finley downplayed concerns the new law would allow her to cherry-pick immigrants. She stressed the immigration officers would still make the decisions on individual cases.
She pledged that the immigration system would be “universal and non-discriminatory.”
Finley said countries like Britain and Australia are able to process would-be immigrants much faster—sometimes in as little as six months—putting Canada at a disadvantage as its tries to lure skilled workers to come here.
“It can take us up to six years to even begin looking at one’s application, let alone process it,” she said. “We risk losing talented people to other countries.”
The problem is current rules require the department to process every application—in the order they were received, she said. Finley likened it to a hockey team able to pick only the first 25 people who applied for a position, even if that choice left the team without a goalie.
But New Democrat MP Thomas Mulcair (Outremont) scoffed at the comparison, calling it the “most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.”
He was unmoved by her call for action yesterday, saying the Tory proposals go too far and risk shutting out talented immigrants who don’t make the minister’s priority list.
“The system (would be) changed into a purely arbitrary, haphazard system open to discrimination,” he said.
Later, he noted that while the Finley cites the backlog as the reason to act, her changes would apply to applications received on or after Feb. 27, 2008.
“When you call them on that, they say it actually doesn’t touch the backlog, the new rules only apply to the future,” Mulcair said.
Finley was at the finance committee because the reforms are contained in Bill C-50, the budget implementation bill. However, opposition MPs are attempting to move the debate to the Commons immigration committee.
Despite Finley’s committee appearance yesterday, the minister has already said her government won’t entertain any amendments to the legislation.
(Posted on April 30, 2008)
Comments
While watching the C.B.C. television national news tonight, a Muslim immigrant spokesperson suggested the Canadian gov’t should have consulted with immigrants prior to any changes being made that would result in prevention of their foreign families having access to Canada’s front door.
News Flash! Canadians themselves were neither asked nor consulted with, over the massive racial changes that were about to take place in our major cities beginning twenty years ago.
Posted by at 12:07 AM on May 1
We should implement a fair exchange program to equalize the forces of immigration/emigration on a 1 to 1 basis. For example, a genuine Canadian-born citizen, preferably of the leftist persuasion would simply trade places with a Jamaican, Chinese or Pakistani citizen wanting to emigrate to Canada.
Any takers? I didn’t think so.
“We are facing real and serious international competition for the talents and skills that we need to fill,”
Cab drivers, sales clerks, nannies, farm workers, food handlers & definitely more immigration “consultants” just to keep the industry in perpetual motion.
Posted by at 12:43 AM on May 1
We claim to be so compassionate about the poor nations, yet we take their much needed skilled workers and doctors etc. Also I guess those doctors etc. don’t really care about their own people or countries just as long as they get to live in a safe white country. Heaven forbid that we actually train our own people at a reasonable cost.
Posted by ecosse at 12:45 AM on May 1
I’m confused, they want MORE immigrants? Hey Canada, could we have a deal for you, 20,000,000 Mexicans, 50,000,000 blacks,and as an added bonus, we throw in Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and for twin prime ministers, Barak & Michele Obama.
Posted by The Old Sage at 12:59 AM on May 1
The more we complain about the excessive numbers, the more lawmakers raise their middle fingers to our concerns.
Posted by Alan at 1:10 AM on May 1
In the old “sane” days talented people were raised and educated, not imported on the cheap from an Asian slum.
Posted by at 6:32 AM on May 1
“Canada’s backlog of immigration applications could grow to 1.5 million by 2012, up from 925,000 now”
I didn’t know Canada had that many white women up there…
“Under her scheme, the minister will be picking winners and losers. Who are these losers?”
Oh, I think I know who loses…
Posted by LHathaway at 9:24 AM on May 1
“after scouring the entire country for a talented and skillful person to fill this appointed seat, we found only one. Guess who? A Black Haitian immigrant woman!”
After importing them you have to structure the entire society to the needs of the immigrant, at the expense of natives. It keeps down the crime and murder. They’ll both go up, but it will at least be manageable as you go about building your multicultural Heaven on Earth.
Posted by at 9:36 AM on May 1
Canada should do what the U.S. did about 15-20 years ago.
Have mass swearing-in ceremonies for illegal immigrants in football stadiums. Remember that?
Posted by Dennis at 1:21 PM on May 1
What talent? Third world governments are are breaking their you-know-whats to export the lowest rungs of their societies, not their best and brightest.
Posted by BW Sam at 2:41 PM on May 1
Canada has as many Pakistanis as the U.S., despite having only one-ninth the population. It definitely has more Sikhs and Middle Easterners.
British Columbia is the most Chinese subnational entity in the Americas, at 10%. California, in contrast, is 3%. Vancouver B.C. is one-third Chinese, according to the last census.
The Canadians are not burdened with our large home-grown black population, or our Hispanic problem, but they seem to be doing their darndest to make up for it by importing the rest of the world as fast as they can.
Ridiculous.
Posted by Brendan at 4:19 PM on May 1
I had no clue that all these third worlders were so skilled! Wow, pakistan, haiti, etc., you get the picture. Where did they get all this education? I bet I know. The osama bin laden school of international hate of all things western. The white western people had better wake up.
Posted by at 5:24 PM on May 1
Immigration System Near ‘Collapse’
No, please, not the briar patch. Anything but that.
Posted by Svigor at 6:49 PM on May 1
The boobs shut down their coal-fired power plants, almost shut down their nuclear power plants, and are busy railroading mining and lumber companies in the guise of “protecting the environment”, and are shocked, just shocked, when the economy is stagnant and they suffer brownouts.
Same in Commiefornia. The population has doubled there in the past decades, and they haven’t built a single new power plant during that time. The eco-whackos won’t allow them. They don’t like coal. They don’t like oil. They don’t like gas. They don’t like hydroelectric. They don’t like nuclear. They think that a bunch of pie-in-the-sky garbage about windmills and solar panels is going to keep them warm and light their homes, so they have rolling blackouts. I really wouldn’t care but for the fact that they’re slithering across the state line in droves, fleeing the mess they’ve made there and now are agitating for the same ruinous policies here and in Nevada. They’ve already pretty much destroyed Oregon and Washington.
Commiefornia is a liberal looney bin. If I had my way, I’d put land mines and concertina wire around the whole state and shoot anyone trying to escape.
Posted by qwerty at 10:47 PM on May 2