NDP Says New Minister Inherits Years Of Conservative Mismanagement!
Under a failed Conservative system, the current wait time for Parent and Grandparent Program in India has ballooned to approximately 8.5 years, NDP said.
By R. Paul Dhillon
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the biggest change in this week’s cabinet shuffle aimed at reviving fast falling Conservative political fortunes by installing Chris Alexander as the new Minister of Immigration and Citizenship by replacing the power hungry Jason Kenney, who had been growing powerful in the ministry with growing Conservative party leadership aspirations.
Harper wanted to curtail that power and put Kenney in his place, a move which might also signal change and a new start with Alexander as Kenney had began to piss off many in the ethnic communities with his radical policies which were nonetheless welcomed by the usual rightwing crowd, who want to curtail immigration and find new ways to get rid of the ones already here.
With this dramatic change at one of the most important federal ministries, NDP calle on the new Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to put an end to Conservative mismanagement and prioritize family reunification.
“This Conservative government is tired and they’re making desperate attempts to look fresh and sweep years of mismanagement under the rug,” said NDP Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism critic Jinny Sims (Newton—North Delta). “A new face in the immigration portfolio won’t change the fact that families are still waiting up to nine years to be reunited with their loved ones.”
Under Kenney, the Conservatives placed a two year moratorium on the Parent and Grandparent Program, introduced stricter rules to family reunification which will double the sponsorship period and implemented an arbitrary 30% increase in the minimum necessary income of the sponsor.
Under a failed Conservative system, the current wait time for Parent and Grandparent Program in India has ballooned to approximately 8.5 years.
“The Conservatives have grossly mismanaged the immigration portfolio at the expense of Canadians waiting to be reunited with their loved ones,” added Sims. “That’s why New Democrats are proud to say that we’ve fought to reunite families – under Tom Mulcair’s leadership we’ve pushed for the Conservatives to be held accountable for their many failings.”
New Democrats hope that the shuffle under the immigration portfolio will signal an end to failed and regressive immigration policies by the Conservatives.
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