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| Subject: Sponsoring parents - latest developments |
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Joe Volpe, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, announced that in both 2005 and 2006, the number of parents and grandparents immigrating to Canada will increase by an additional 12,000 each year. This triples the original 6,000 forecasted for 2005.
Comments about this announcement:
1. Even after tripling the quotas from 6,000 to 18,000, these numbers are still below 2003 levels, and do not appear relevant to solving the current backlog crisis. Backlog of parental applications remains of over 110,000 people.
2.If Liberals were serious they would get a special team together to clear up the backlog and go forward from there. This announcement is nothing but pre-election fluff.
3.At the rate of their announcement, it will take about 6 years to clear up the backlog.
4.What about Canadians applying under the parental sponsorship program today? If all resources are going to the backlog, then new applicants will be mislead by the Liberals as well with misleading timelines and will face a similar backlog in the future.
5.At $1500 per application, The Liberal government is sitting on about $150 million dollars. This is the real sponsorship scandal!
6.The only reason the parental sponsorship backlog exits because this Liberal government created it - turning its back on immigrants and making it a zero priority. Cynically, the Liberals are attempting to buy back the votes of immigrant Canadians that have so clearly been betrayed by this government.
7.Minister Volpe in February was denying this issue even existed when questioned by the Conservatives in the House of Commons, so it is a positive first step but the government must provide details on how it plans to clear up the backlog. Action, not mere words, are what is required now.
8.This announcement confirms that immigrant Canadians will suffer the heartache of missing their families for years to come.
Why this Announcement was made?
Timing is very suspicious ? right before an election, could have dealt with this issue months and months ago if the Liberals actually had concerns with this issue. Minister Volpe refused to even meet with Sponsor your Parents, and the Liberals must have felt great pressure to make this announcement today.
The group Sponsor your Parents held a 700 person protest about a month ago on this issue outside Minister Volpe?s office. The Liberals made this announcement today to attempt to avoid even larger protests that the Liberals knew were planned in the near future to avoid further embarrassment.
[20-04-2005,22:16]
[**.10.219.37]
prg |
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(in reply to: Sponsoring parents - latest developments)
110,000 applications is 50% of the total immigration quota for 2005. it is not realistic - no matter how much people miss their parents.
you neglect to mention that parents will now be allowed multiple visitor visas to help offset the wait time. the only downside to this is they will not get free medical care (they will require private insurance)... so your concerns are covered... unless of course this is about free medical care instead of having your parents with you.
[20-04-2005,22:52]
[***.181.198.246]
sharon |
(in reply to: Sponsoring parents - latest developments)
I can´t make sense of your gripe. What is your problem? You wanna see your parents, go to your homeland see them, hug them and cuddle with them. When all done and tired, fly back to Canada. Once you give space for a dog to set its paws on, it wants to take over the house!!!!
[20-04-2005,23:00]
[***.199.3.3]
Canadabound |
(in reply to: Sponsoring parents - latest developments)
Sharon,
People from many countries don´t need a visa at all. This announcement doesn´t really change nothing because they say that "will allow them to visit their families in Canada while their sponsorship applications are in process, as long as they are able to prove that they are visiting temporarily." This is a cheap propaganda for people that don´t know all the details. So you expect for 70 old people to go back and forward every 6 months?
Tripling quotas is not really tripling - it´s bringing them 25% below 2003 levels. 110,000 backlog was created by this government. They stopped processing applications in April 2004, but continued to accept new applications. At $1500 per application, this $150 million dollars. Where did this money go? This is the real sponsorship scandal!
Government of Canada ? country of immigrants built by immigrants breaches its own promise to be "the country where families reunite" by creating this backlog. This government has created this same problem that it is now seeking to solve.
For most of us it was the belief that we could reunite with our families that finally brought us into Canada. If we had any doubts about the ability of Canadian government to fulfill their promise we would never have left our elderly parents alone in our home countries.
Canada has a moral obligation to allow parents to come to their children. Those parents made the greatest investment in this country by raising their children, giving them education, skills and personal qualities that those immigrated children are now putting into Canada?s economy, culture and society.
We are not modern slaves. We are taxpayers and have the same rights as natve Canadians.
"Sponsor Your Parents" exists only 3 months and already has more than 4,000 members. This group caused the government to do those changes, and we will not stop fighting till we see the government fulfill its commitments.
[20-04-2005,23:25]
[**.10.219.37]
prg |
(in reply to: Sponsoring parents - latest developments)
sorry, I cannot accept you arguement about family reunification. In all other countries that have immigration a family unit is husband, wife and children attending school.
Under the new regulations you will be allowed to extend visitors visas - parents will not be required to travel back and forth as you suggest.
There is no choice but to limit to the number of parental applications in a given year- Canada is not a bottomless social/economic pit. If this is unacceptable to recent or potential immigrants, I am sorry. There are remedies available to you. Go, and visit your parents where they live like thousands of immigrants have done for years before you. If that is unacceptable...
[20-04-2005,23:42]
[***.181.198.246]
sharon |
(in reply to: Sponsoring parents - latest developments)
Let me ask you a simple question: in your opinion, what period of time is reasonable and acceptable for family reunification?
If Canada doesn´t think that parents are part of the family, it should change the law. In this case, I think tens of thousands of potential young and educated immigrants will go elsewhere.
You are talking about aging population, but most of the immigrants are young and without them, Canada will be much more older. If this problem will not be solved, tens of thousands of immigrants will go back to their home countries. Is it really what Canada wants? Without those immigrants, in 10 years this country will be a third world country.
[21-04-2005,00:19]
[**.10.219.37]
prg |
(in reply to: Sponsoring parents - latest developments)
Canada accepts about 115,000 skilled workers every year. For sake of arguement, let´s assume each skilled worker wants to bring both sets of parents. the parents of the skilled worker and the parents of the spouse. That is a potential of 460,000 parental sponsorships ever year. In each case, they would say they are entitled to family reunification. In 5 years... you are potentially talking 5.3 million parents on the strenth of 575,000 workers. That is what you have with an unlimited policy and everyone feeling as you do.
In truth, Canada would be better off with no immigration in that situation.
If I were to write the policy... sponsors would be required to maintain 100% residency for 5 years instead of 2 of 5 to qualify as sponsors and I would only allow parental sponsorship if the Canadian PR could prove they are the only living child.
or...cancel parental sponsorship entirely once we fufill or commitments to the 110,000 who are waiting... or offer a refund to the application fees and say sorry - change in policy. If it means skilled workers leave the country... then skilled workers leave the country.
You have caught me on a very bad day. My mother must wait 6 months to have cataract surgery. That is after waiting 3 months to see a specialist. She has worked,lived and paid taxes here all her life. So have her children. The waiting room today was filled with people who could not speak any english.
sorry, it is not a good day to post this thread.
[21-04-2005,00:58]
[***.20.170.23]
sharon |
(in reply to: Sponsoring parents - latest developments)
I´m sorry about your mother. Most of the health care problems are not lack of money, it´s lack of stuff, but that´s another problem.
Your assumption about 460,000 is completely wrong for several reasons:
1. 115,000 skilled workers include children.
2. Not everyone wants to bring his parents.
3.The fact is that before 2003, about 20,000 parents have been admitted every year and waiting times have been very reasonable. 20,000 is less than 10% of total number of immigrants. Then someone decided that it´s too much, stopped processing and created the current backlog.
When we applied as skilled workers, we have been told than Canada is one of the richest countries in the world. But when we are here, we suddenly hear that Canada is aging and needs just young educated immigrants who should come to Canada to pay for the aging Canadian population pensions. Those immigrants should also sustain the overloaded infrastructure and leave their parents in their countries to die alone and neglected, far from their children and grandchildren.
We also hear that Canada has long waiting lists in hospitals, lack of housing and overloaded highways and that the infrastructure of Canada can not accommodate our aging parents. Canada cannot afford to accept 20,000 parents per year - less than 0.1% of its population. So much for one of the richest countries in the world.
As for your suggestion - you suggest that sponsors should wait 5 years before they can even apply, and another 6 years after applying, correct? In another words, you want to reach a "final solution" of this problem. How genius. Even Hitler didn´t think about it.
[21-04-2005,01:38]
[**.10.219.37]
prg |
(in reply to: Sponsoring parents - latest developments)
no... I am suggesting that parent not have to wait at all to come, but first they must have no other children than those living in Canada, and that Canadian sponsors must have lived, worked, and paid taxes for 5 full years to qualify as sponsors.
if we accept your position, any quota whatsoever is unethical. I know my potential numbers are inflated but we must live with worst case scenarios to know maximum ramifications.
what is your solution to this problem????
[21-04-2005,02:16]
[***.20.170.23]
sharon |
(in reply to: Sponsoring parents - latest developments)
Prg,
You talk too much and you don?t know what you talking about.
Shut your mouth and go back to your parents.
Don?t like Canada, Don?t live in Canada, go back to you village, where you belong.
Issue resolved.
Thanks,
[21-04-2005,02:22]
[**.5.144.224]
Nobody |
(in reply to: Sponsoring parents - latest developments)
But for parents with no other children it still will be 11 years to wait! And again, you ignore the fact that even the new multi-entry visa rules don´t allow parents to LIVE here while waiting, only visit.
I´m not suggesting to cancel quotas and let unlimited number to get in. But like I said, before 2003, with 20,000 quotas, it worked not bad. It still took 12-18 months in some cases, but not 6 years. Whoever created this problem by stopping to process applications a year ago, must find the solution now. But even after the recent declaration, they didn´t resume the processing yet! The date on CIC site hasn´t change since April 2004. Meanwhile, it´s pre-election fluff only. Minister Volpe refused to even meet with Sponsor your Parents.
[21-04-2005,02:32]
[**.10.219.37]
prg |
(in reply to: Sponsoring parents - latest developments)
Nobody!
Servile flattery might solve your issues but not prg. So, you shut your dirty mouth and you reurn to the jungle you are coming from. Apparently, If you can not discuss like a human you better return to your home-jungle, as your seem to understand animals´ language quite better.
[21-04-2005,02:43]
[***.130.164.217]
Anonymous |
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