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Harper too pledges to cut landing fee |
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The $975 landing fee could well be eliminated or drastically cut - no
matter which party wins the January 23 election. Conservative Party
leader Stephen Harper, speaking in Mississauga, Ontario, a day after Prime Minister Paul Martin made a campaign pledge to scrap the right of permanent residence fee, said he would slash the fee to $100 per person.
 | Harper
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Harper's promise, made in a city with a strong immigrant
presence, was obviously aimed to breaking the Liberal stranglehold on
new Canadians' vote in the key provinces of Ontario and British
Columbia. The third vote-rich province of Quebec is almost certain to
go with the Bloc Quebecois.
The Conservative leader said he would slash the immigration landing fee in half and reduce it to $100 over the term of a Tory government. He however said he would not pledge to eliminate the fee entirely because "I'm not going to make a promise I can't keep."
Harper said his plan would cost about $500 million over five years.
The Tory leader also vowed to do more to recognize foreign credentials.
He admitted when it came to this issue, the federal government didn't have the final word, but said the government could still work with individual provinces to solve a problem that has dogged the immigration system for decades.
The New Democratic Party meanwhile slammed the prime minister over the landing fee announcement, reminding Martin it was he himself who introduced the fee 10 years ago when he was finance minister in Jean Chretien's cabinet.
“Mr Martin is the person who imposed the unfair landing fee on immigrants, and now he wants to swoop in as some kind of hero?” said Burnaby-Douglas NDP candidate Bill Siksay. “Time and time he balanced the books on the backs of Canadians who can least afford it. Canadians have longer memories than that, Mr Martin.”
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Newsfile 