The multicultural face of Canada is much in evidence here in the Lower Mainland and as a result immigration issues must be brought to the fore. Our immigration system should be efficient and effective in welcoming genuine immigrants and legitimate refugees and preventing abuse.
The government of Stephen Harper wants newcomers and their families to succeed. We want more immigrants to come to Canada and for families to be reunited faster. In 2007, Canada welcomed the highest number of newcomers in our history, 429,649, surpassing the previous high set in 1911. The Immigration Department has also sped up the processing for applications made under the Family Class. As a result, family reunification cases are now being done 20 to 40 percent faster than under the previous Liberal governments.
But there is still room for improvement. Today, a person wanting to immigrate to Canada is faced with a huge backlog and long wait times. In 1993, there were 50,000 in the queue waiting to immigrate. Today, there are more than 900,000. As a result, those applying to come to Canada are waiting on average 4 to 6 years just to have their application looked at. Without immediate action, by 2012 wait times will rise to 10 years.
That is why our government has taken action to fix the problems plaguing the immigration system by amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. These amendments will reduce the backlog and result in shorter wait times. The changes do not apply to refugees and are not intended to affect family reunification at all. We want families to be reunited and we have made it a priority.
These important steps are just some of the things that our government is doing to help immigrants. We have also cut in half the discriminatory, Liberal-introduced head tax on new immigrants and invested $1.4 billion into settlement programs – programs that help immigrants with language training and help finding a job. We have also created the Foreign Credential Referral Office to help newcomers get their credentials assessed and recognized more quickly.
For many years now I have been demanding governments fix the immigration system to make it fairer and more competitive. I am pleased that our government is taking action to remedy the problems that have been allowed to fester for too many years.
