Canadian Election over Immigration?

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Subject: Canadian Election over Immigration?
  Well things are heating up and with the cross country meetings by the CIC Standing Committee and then the changes the Conservatives tried to SNEAK through on the back of a budget bill it finally looks like an election is around the corner.

CHECK OUT THIS ARTICLE FROM THE GLOBE AND MAIL NEWSPAPER.

THIS IS NOT AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE.

NEW CANADIANS
Dion blasts Tories´ immigration proposals
Suggested changes would let minister tell department whether certain applications should be processed quickly or not at all
GLORIA GALLOWAY
April 1, 2008

OTTAWA -- Liberal Leader St?phane Dion blasted the Conservative government yesterday over proposed immigration changes that he says will tell many hopeful immigrants they simply "need not apply."
But Prime Minister Stephen Harper taunted the Liberals for panning legislation they will ultimately have to support if they want to stave off an election. And he said his government is merely trying to deal with a massive backlog of potential immigrants who wait years to fill necessary jobs.

"It is unfair to immigrants, unfair to Canada," Mr. Harper said. "That is why it is a confidence measure. That is why it is a part of the budget and we appreciate the support of the Liberals to that goal."
Mr. Dion does not dispute the fact that he and his party may, once again, find themselves backing away from a fight rather than taking on Mr. Harper in an election campaign.

Instead, he said, the Liberals could allow the measures to pass and then try to undo them if they eventually regain office.
"Each time that we vote against something without triggering an election, it´s a marker," he said. "That means that when we will be the government with the help of Canadians, we´ll change these bad policies by much better policies."
The proposed law gives the immigration minister broad powers to issue instructions to the department as to whether certain applications should be processed quickly and whether some should not be processed at all. However, the changes could prevent the department from processing the applications of people who would be accepted under the current points system, but who do not possess specific skills.
In addition, the minister would set the number of applications to be processed, by category, in any given year.

Those who were already in the queue before Feb. 27 will not be affected, although some immigrants with skills in demand can be moved to the front of the line.

Some immigration experts say the government could achieve its objective to increase the number of skilled immigrants simply by realigning the current points system to put more emphasis on the skilled trades. And some wonder if the queue is really a problem at all.

Statistics available on Immigration Canada´s own website show that 50 per cent of all applications from skilled workers are processed within 36 months. In the Americas, 80 per cent of all applications from hopeful immigrants are processed in a little over two years.
Other government statistics show that the queues are concentrated in a small number of places. Someone who currently applies to immigrate to Canada from New Delhi will wait 12.8 years. In Manila, the wait is 11.9 years, and in Bogota the wait is 16.5 years.

But those processing times are far above average.

Someone applying to permanently enter Canada from Warsaw or Buffalo, for instance, will have to wait just 1.8 years.
In places where there is virtually no backlog, most applicants will be accepted as long as they have enough points based on language, education, experience, family ties etc. It is in places like India and the Philippines that they will be turned away if they have the points, but do not possess the required skills.

However, when the government talks about "setting the number of applications or requests, by category or otherwise, to be processed in any year," it will reduce the number of successful applicants from all countries, including those places where there is virtually no backlog.
Government officials say those cuts will be offset by the number of temporary workers permitted to stay for the duration of a specific job. But Liberal MP Andrew Telegdi, a member of the Commons immigration committee, says that reminds him "of the time when we used to bring the Chinese workers in to build the railway and they couldn´t bring their families."

Roy
www.cvimmigration.com

[01-04-2008,09:08]
[**.52.216.30]
Roy
(in reply to: Canadian Election over Immigration?)
in what country/region is there no or virtual backlog??
[01-04-2008,14:05]
[***.112.2.60]
Enrique
(in reply to: Canadian Election over Immigration?)
how else do we insure that the engineer will not be driving taxi? is this not the major complaint about our current system?

and if the elected government of the day does not make the decision about NOC codes based on reports from staff - who should?

as for sticking it on the end of a budget bill - pure political strategy. It is the only way the liberals would vote positively on immigration policy out of sheer principle. Tricky? yup. But so it saying no to something just because you are the opposition.

I am not convinced I like the ammendments but I really want to see how it flushes out in the regulations.

[01-04-2008,15:20]
[**.155.160.37]
Sharon
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