Immigration Legislation May Fail

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Subject: Immigration Legislation May Fail
  Others are looking closer at the wording of this Legislation. I wonder if the Liberals, NDP and Bloc will stand together and force an election.

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Liberals urged to fight immigration proposals
Changes tucked into Conservatives´ budget bill would give minister too much unilateral power, immigrant groups say
GLORIA GALLOWAY
March 24, 2008

OTTAWA -- Members of some of Canada´s largest immigrant communities say plans to give the Immigration Minister more power to decide who gets to stay are misguided and they are urging the Dion Liberals to vote against the proposals, even if it means plunging the country into an election.

"We have a lot of concerns," Victor Wong, the executive director of the Chinese Canadian National Council, said yesterday in a telephone interview from British Columbia.

"Our suggestion to the government is that they should go back to the drawing board on this. We have read the suggested changes and they are misguided at best."

Mr. Wong is also urging the Opposition Liberals to vote against the immigration changes. "We would be very disappointed in the Liberals" if they allow the Conservative proposals, which were tucked into a 136-page budget implementation bill, to pass, he said. "The Liberals have been promoting themselves as the party of immigration and they have so many seats in the urban areas where they draw heavy support from the immigrant communities ... I think they should listen to their constituencies."

But budget bills are, by their nature, confidence matters and Liberal Leader St?phane Dion has proved to be unwilling to take down the Conservative minority despite numerous opportunities served up by the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The Liberals have said they do not agree with the Conservative immigration plans, which some lawyers say would gut the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act brought in under Liberal prime minister Jean Chr?tien. But the party has not said how it will vote on the budget bill.

New Democrat MP Olivia Chow promises to introduce an amendment to have the immigration proposals removed from the budget bill - a move that could also lead to a confidence vote.

Immigration Minister Diane Finley told CTV´s Question Period yesterday that she is "absolutely" prepared to fight an election over the issue. Ms. Finley says the changes are necessary to clear up a backlog of 900,000 hopeful immigrants, mostly from China, India and Pakistan, who have now been waiting more than six years to come to Canada.

Under the proposed law, the Immigration Minister would be permitted to cap the list of people waiting to be accepted into Canada. The government would also be able to reject an applicant who had been approved by immigration officers. And the Minister could unilaterally make decisions about immigration policy that, under the current system, require regulatory changes.

The government must currently proceed through the queue of prospective immigrants in the order that applications are received. The changes would permit the Minister and her officials to skip over those who are less qualified to find those who are in the highest demand in Canada´s workplaces.

But Mr. Wong said, because so much is being left to the Minister to decide, "it leaves a lot to interpretation. This is what is fostering a climate of mistrust." And the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants said in an e-mail last week that "responding to Canada´s economic needs should not compromise Canada´s vision to build this country through the settlement and integration of immigrants as fully equal participants in society."
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Roy
www.cvimmigration.com


[24-03-2008,08:28]
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