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Leaders debate immigration challenge |
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By Chantal Riva » Prime Minister Paul Martin and Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper
laid out different approaches on jobs for newcomers as immigration
returned as a topic in the final election debate held in Montreal,
Quebec.
In the French-language debate, the leaders, who included the NDP's Jack
Layton and the Bloc Quebecois' Gilles Duceppe, were asked whether it
was acceptable unemployment was twice as high among new immigrants
compared to the national average.
All the leaders agreed that it was unacceptable, but provided different solutions to the problem.
Harper, whose party leads in the polls, said the issue had a lot to do with the recognition of foreign credentials. The inability to find jobs "is a loss for the immigrants but for the Canadian economy as well," said Harper.
His solution was to set up an agency to evaluate foreign credentials and communicate this to applicants early in the applications process. (This was outlined in greater detail in an exclusive interview Tory immigration critic Diane Ablonczy gave to ImmigrationGuides last week).
He provided the example of the medical profession, where he claimed there were 4,000 immigrant doctors who were unable to find jobs in their field - this despite the fact that Canada was hamstrung with a shortage of 2,000 doctors.
For his part, Martin said his party would provide tax credits to companies that hired new immigrants. This, he said, would help newcomers find jobs faster and gain the experience they need to succeed in Canada.
Layton added his voice to the previously announced promises of both Martin and Harper to eliminate the immigrant landing fee. He however went further, promising to eliminate the fee "immediately and completely".
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