The new immigration plan of the Trudeau government has sparked heated discussions, with 2.36 million temporary residents facing deportation
Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller defended the Liberal government's new immigration plan in parliament this week and promised to make further adjustments in the coming weeks to ensure effective control of the immigration system and Canada's population growth.
However, Miller faced criticism from the right-wing in the House Immigration Committee, accusing his plan of lacking detailed measures and how to ensure that temporary residents voluntarily leave Canada after their status expires; The left also criticized it for blaming immigrants for the country's affordability and housing crisis.
Ottawa is preparing for new reforms to its asylum system while cracking down on employer sponsored immigration scams.
Immigration Minister Miller said on Monday that he is considering measures to crack down on immigration payment fees for Canadian employers to apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).
Miller told the House Immigration Committee, "There are a lot of monetary transactions in the field of labor market impact assessment, but in reality, labor market assessment itself should not incur any costs
Currently, LMIA is able to add an additional 50 points to permanent residency applications. Ottawa is considering reducing this score to lower the incentives for obtaining LMIA.
Miller said, "Obviously, the 50 points added to LMIA give it undue value, while also encouraging bad behavior
The minister also stated that he plans to "propose more measures" to reform the asylum system.
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How to make temporary residents leave on time
Opposition Conservative immigration commentator Tom Kmiec questioned: 'You haven't given me or Canadians confidence in your plan,' how to ensure temporary residents leave on time.
You haven't provided any specific implementation information. You said you have a cooperating organization and are working with certain people. So what are you doing specifically? What is the process? How do you ensure that people comply with visa regulations
Regarding this, Miller stated that most people do indeed leave on time. If they don't leave, border officials will investigate and expel them.
He admitted that more and more study and work visa holders are extending their stay in Canada by applying for asylum. But he said that people have the right to undergo due process and be evaluated when they have legitimate reasons to seek protection.
When asked by Bloc Qu é b é cois about how the federal government is responding to the influx of irregular immigrants from the United States under the leadership of the Trump administration, Miller stated that the cabinet working group is developing contingency plans, but he will not publicly disclose specific details.
Last month, the Canadian government announced a three-year immigration plan that will reduce the annual intake of permanent residents by 21%, starting next year to 395000 people, to 380000 people by 2026, and to 365000 people by 2027. Meanwhile, the temporary population (including international students and foreign workers) will decrease to 445901 in 2025 and 445662 in 2026, but will slightly increase by 17439 by 2027.
The new indicator aims to reduce the population by 0.2% annually in the next two years, and then restore population growth by 0.8% in 2027. But the target assumes that 1262801 temporary residents will voluntarily leave next year, and 1104658 temporary residents will voluntarily leave by 2026.
Image source: NDP/CPAC
On Monday of this week, a coalition of advocates and immigrants called on the opposition party to reject the Liberal government's plan to cut immigration and expel 2.36 million temporary residents over the next two years. Some of them attended the committee meeting and held protest signs that read 'Don't expel us! Don't racism!'.
Sarom Rho from the Migrant Rights Network stated that reducing permanent residency quotas will result in longer periods of instability and exploitation for international students and temporary workers.
She said at a press conference, "They are covering up the fact that the super rich are making record profits while most people are starving; they are covering up the fact that corporate landlords are hoarding housing and creating housing scarcity; they are also covering up the fact that public institutions we cherish so much, such as healthcare and education, are being sold little by little to private interests; by reducing immigration, Prime Minister Trudeau is reinforcing racism that immigrants are responsible for the affordability of the housing crisis
New Democratic Party (NDP) immigration commentator Jenny Kwan said that successive Conservative and Liberal governments have introduced more and more temporary residents, reducing the rights of immigrants and making them more vulnerable to exploitation.
She stated that the federal government needs to constrain the interests of businesses that profit from people's basic needs and invest in housing, healthcare, and infrastructure for all Canadians.
Guan Huizhen said, "You blame immigrants as if they caused the housing crisis, but in reality, successive governments have abandoned their responsibility and completely relied on the private sector to provide housing. When will you be able to take responsibility and do the right thing
Miller stated that temporary residents are inherently temporary and there is no guarantee of automatically obtaining permanent resident status.
He said, "Many institutions, whether explicitly or implicitly, have created a false hope among people that they can immediately become Canadian citizens. I do feel sorry for those who hold this false hope, but the reality is that not everyone can stay
Source link:
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/minister-marc-miller-under-fire-over-controversial-immigration-levels-plan-for-canada/article_45269332-ab3c-11ef-89cc-e35ba1f86cb5.html