There is a good possibility that Canadians may just find themselves in another costly federal election this spring. With three federal elections in less than five years at an average cost of $275-280 million per election, chances are good the average Canadian will be less than thrilled with the political party that pulls the trigger and calls it a day on this rather dysfunctional minority government.
The current government repeatedly uses the threat of costly federal elections to hold parliamentarians hostage to force through a great deal of questionable legislation. Like a bully in the school yard, the Conservatives have decided this is how they will conduct business in their minority government. With the NDP and Bloc Quebecois voting to bring down the government over every confidence vote, the responsibility of stabilizing this minority government has fallen hard on the Liberals.
This brings us to the latest issue that could bring on a federal election, rather innocent looking budget legislation, Bill C-50. Amongst all the difficult and long-winded “budget stuff”, you will find buried in this legislation a small clause on immigration. This is quite unexpected; in fact the move is sneaky.
Bill C-50 will make critical changes to Canada’s immigration policy without an opportunity for focused overview by Parliament, and without any public consultation. Mr. Dion has said the Liberal’s will not support this bill as it currently stands, and the Conservatives have said they will not accept amendments. The line has been drawn in the sand and parliamentarians must either vote for bill or go to the polls. With the legislation currently at the Finance Committee in the House of Commons, we could see a vote toppling Parliament as early as the second week in May.
The Conservative government contends this bill will fix what is ailing the backlogged immigration system, which has reportedly reached a whopping 925,000 unprocessed applications. The bill gives the Minister of Immigration the power to give priority to categories of immigrants whose job skills are in demand in Canada. At the same time it also has the power to refuse applications in other categories. These new measures will only apply to applicants after February 29, and does nothing to address current backlog in the system.
The reforms allow the government to limit the number of applications taken in for processing and allow it to emphasize skilled labour categories of its choosing. Currently, Citizenship and Immigration must process all applications received.
Canada’s immigration policy should be about more than short-term fixes to the Canadian economy. That is this bill in a nutshell; as such it is narrowly focused. It pays no attention to how immigration policy transforms a nation. Canada is a country that has been founded, built and sustained by immigrants.
Critics have also questioned why Canada would abandon immigration laws that are clear and transparent in favour of a form back-room decision making. No government should exercise this type of power.
The reality is that Canada’s immigration system is problematic and it isn’t serving immigrants or the country well. Currently we have a points system to select immigrants. Adopted in 1967 and continuously altered over the years new biases have crept into the system. Today the points system favours new comers with advanced degrees and high-level professional credentials. These highly skilled and educated new comers are chronically under employed. Employment Equity witnesses appearing before the Senate’s Human Rights Committee this spring have repeatedly said these immigrants are hampered by the complexity of having their education and credentials recognized. They also find it difficult to compete with Canadian born counterparts have had always had access to the best education and who do not face struggles over language issues.
Our immigration system certainly needs to be re-evaluated and revamped. We need only to look at the enormous number of people waiting in the immigration line-up, and the difficulties they experience after they arrive in Canada. You will be hard pressed to find anyone who believes Canada is currently serving immigrant needs or the country to the best of its ability.
What will this new system look like and how will we address the needs of those currently in the system is seems to be the question of the day. I do not believe we will find the answers in the form C-50, the “drive-thru” legislation that has crept its way through Parliament. It is not the “fast fix” the government says it is.
Quite simply, when a government introduces good legislation isn’t a hard sell. You don’t have to sneak measures in on the back of a budget bill or short-circuit parliament debate on the issue. You also don’t have to sell the idea to the public. The Conservative government is spending a reported $60,000 trying to sell these new immigration measures in an advertising campaign targeting the ethnic media.
Canadians should question this legislation. This is not the way good government deals with an important issue like immigration policy.