Home  Newsfile Exclusive: Tories outline immigration plans
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Exclusive: Tories outline immigration plans |
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By Archie D'Cruz » The
Conservatives would broaden Canada's immigration points system to ensure
labour market needs are better served, says the MP who could be
dictating policy if the Tories win the January 23 federal election.
Diane Ablonczy, who as chief immigration critic is the front-runner to
win the ministerial portfolio in the event of a Conservative victory,
also said her party would not increase immigration numbers until the
"serious problems in the system" have been fixed.
"Stringent changes made by the Liberals to the points system in 2002 made it nearly impossible for any but those with university degrees to be accepted as immigrants," Ablonczy said in an exclusive interview with ImmigrationGuides.com.
Citing the case of a constituent with two Masters degrees who was refused a teaching certificate unless he took two more years of university, she said: "These immigrants too often find that the very credentials that got them accepted to Canada are not even recognized here."
The constituent, an ESL teacher in his home country, had to take up a job stocking vending machines because he had a family to support and returning to studies wasn't an option, she added.
Under the Tory system, points would be awarded for skills other than university education and the door opened to a broader range of applicants for immigration.
"Canada has a severe shortage of tradespersons and other skills not recognized in the Liberal point system. The point system needs to be broadened so people with these types of skills can be accepted as immigrants," said Ablonczy.
She said the difficulty newcomers have in obtaining Canadian recognition, validation and equivalency of international training and experience is "the single biggest problem facing the immigration system today".
"Sixty percent (of newcomers) are not able to work in their field of training or expertise," she said. "Addressing this problem will be a Conservative government's number one priority in the immigration department."
Current polls point to the Tories edging ahead of the Liberals and possibly forming the next government.
Immigration backlog issue: Ablonczy said that while the Conservatives supported increased immigration in principle, to do so at this moment would be "irresponsible".
"Right now the Liberal immigration system has created a backlog of over 700,000 applicants, and people are waiting for up to 10 years to go through the process. So although we support an increase in immigration, we have said that it is irresponsible to talk about immigration levels until the credentials issue is resolved, settlement programs are strengthened, and the backlog is addressed," she said.
Ablonczy said Liberal MPs, including immigration committee member David Anderson and former immigration minister Judy Sgro, expressed similar concerns.
"You don't do anyone a favour by opening the door and then not having the appropriate settlement services and ability to be able to help them integrate," Sgro was quoted as saying in the Edmonton Journal.
NDP family reunification plan rejected: Ablonczy also rejected National Democratic Party leader Jack Layton's call for a "once-in-a-lifetime provision" to allow Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor one relative to reunite families.
"At this time it would only add to the backlog and give false hope to new applicants, when those who have previously applied have been waiting for years," she said.
"A Conservative government will examine why wait times for family reunification are so long, and will work with families to address the situation. When we have repaired the breakdowns in the current system, we will enter into discussions about how the applications process can be expanded based on Canada's needs," she added.
Ablonczy said the a "fundamental change" needed to be made to the applications process to minimize stress and uncertainty for applicants and their families.
The Tory plan, she said, included hiring additional processing officers, making sure applicants can actually get information about the status of their files via the 1-800 number or government website, and ensuring that posted processing times are accurate.
"It is shameful to keep talented people in the dark about the status of their files or waiting for years in uncertainty," said Ablonczy.
"We will also ensure that international credentials can be quickly evaluated and validated, and that any requirement to achieve Canadian equivalency is clearly communicated early in the applications process. We will also work with settlement service providers to ensure that newcomers have better access to mentoring and internship programs to ensure that they can make a smooth transition into Canadian society and the workforce," she added.
Tories 'unfairly portrayed': Asked to respond to polling numbers in past elections where ridings with high concentrations of new Canadians traditionally voted Liberal, she said part of the reason was that the Liberals "untruthfully played to the fears of newcomers by painting our party as unfriendly to immigrants".
This was especially the case in the Greater Toronto Area "where we have had no representation, and therefore have only limited opportunities to set the record straight".
"One of our former immigration critics told me that he recently attended a Diwali festival in Toronto, and spoke to the crowd. A Liberal MP followed by publicly accusing our party of wanting to shut down programs and 'send people back'.
"Other than shouting out from his table or going up to the platform to grab the microphone and accuse the Liberal of lying, which would have been rude and disrupted the dinner, our MP could only shake his head. You can imagine that such slurs are repeated many, many times at events where our party is not yet represented," said Ablonczy.
"A close look at our party’s policies will show we are committed to many of the values most immigrants hold dear: honest, fair government; careful spending and low taxes; protection of citizens from crime, and safe communities; and belief in and support for the family unit," she added.
The Conservative caucus has the largest ethnic diversity proportionally of any other party caucus, she claimed.
"Many Conservative MPs come from immigrant backgrounds and many, including myself, are Canadians by choice," added Ablonczy, who was born in Peoria, Illinois.
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