Liberals Call Conservative Changes To Immigration Reckless And Short-Sighted!
“Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Jason Kenney’s constant changes to the immigration system show incompetence and a lack of long-term vision. The sudden halting of the Federal Skilled Worker Program and Federal Immigrant Investor Program clearly show that he has no plan,” said Liberal Citizenship and Immigration critic Kevin Lamoureux.
By R. Paul Dhillon
OTTAWA – Harper Conservatives will stop accepting new immigration applications to the federal skilled worker and investor programs starting Monday, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Friday.
Kenney’s ongoing changes and restrictions, including trying to become “God of Immigration” by usurping extra powers of granting asylum to whom he pleases and kicking or rejecting those he wishes to keep out, have come under fire from the opposition as well as immigrant groups.
Liberal Citizenship and Immigration critic Kevin Lamoureux called the Conservatives’ latest changes to immigration reckless.
“Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Jason Kenney’s constant changes to the immigration system show incompetence and a lack of long-term vision. The sudden halting of the Federal Skilled Worker Program and Federal Immigrant Investor Program clearly show that he has no plan,” Lamoureux said.
Kenney made a big show of announcing the reformed Federal Skilled Worker Program in April, but now he says it will not be in place until 2013.
“Returning applications and slamming our doors is not an immigration plan. This Conservative government is dismantling our immigration system and replacing it with nothing. Their reckless decisions will wreak havoc on the lives of those hoping to immigrate to Canada and leaves gaps for businesses that rely on skilled labour,” he said.
Kenney has not consulted with opposition parties or allowed any of the substantial changes to receive adequate Parliamentary oversight.
“We have built a great and prosperous Canada because previous governments have understood the importance of their role in strengthening the immigration system. Minister Kenney and this Conservative government seem more concerned with flashy photo-ops and speeches than nation building,” Lamoureux said
Kenney said the skilled worker program will be reopened in January, when “important changes” will be made. However, the investor program will be halted indefinitely so the government can “make progress on processing its existing inventory.”
The news has caught prospective applicants and their lawyers off guard as they were not given advance notice to submit applications that are almost ready, reported the Toronto Star.
“But we’re not really surprised by anything this government does. It is rewriting the rules. It is consistent with its pattern to freeze everything to deal with the backlog,” said Toronto immigration lawyer Daniel Kingwell.
“Our concern is its shortsightedness. We are competing with other jurisdictions for the best and brightest. Immigrants are going to look elsewhere when their applications are being tossed into the garbage and the government is shutting down programs indefinitely.”
It is not known what further changes Ottawa will make to the federal skilled worker program, but Kenney has said he’d like to create a new application management system for Canadian employers to choose potential job candidates from a ready pool of pre-screened skilled immigrants.
Last year, Kenney capped the number of applications for the investor program to 700 spots and doubled the minimum investment requirements from $400,000 to $800,000. The quota was filled in 30 minutes. There are currently 25,000 investor applications representing 86,000 principals and dependents in the backlog.
Currently, the federal skilled worker program has an inventory of 463,214 people waiting for a decision. Ottawa is hoping to ramp through a new law that would allow Kenney to return and dispose the files of some 280,000 people submitted before Feb. 28, 2008.
Affected applicants are filing a class action lawsuit against Ottawa, which has agreed not to destroy or return their applications within 90 days of the bill’s passage until the lawsuit is certified by the court. A court date is expected for September.
With News Files Courtesy Toronto Star
