Yes.
Evidence of meeting #42 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was backlog.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #42 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was backlog.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
Okay.
Now, you have some concerns about people who have misrepresented the fact that they had children or someone in the family class. Notwithstanding that they misrepresented, you would like them to be able to make a humanitarian and compassionate application outside of Canada.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
Okay.
And the legislation itself would indicate that they may make the application in their own right, or the minister may grant a humanitarian application through her own right. Would you agree with that?
4:25 p.m.
Immigration and Refugee Lawyer, As an Individual
Yes, they may, but then the minister may not consider it if the minister doesn't want to.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
Right. So it's not saying that they won't be granted; it's just that they may or may not be. Some cases may, and some cases may not.
4:25 p.m.
Immigration and Refugee Lawyer, As an Individual
Well, it's the difference in wording. If you're in Canada and make the humanitarian application, someone has to look at it. It's mandatory. If you're outside Canada, you could have an even closer family relationship, but it's not mandatory. They don't even have to look at your application.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
But the application may be made and it may be allowed.
4:25 p.m.
Immigration and Refugee Lawyer, As an Individual
It may be made and it may be allowed, but the problem is that you don't deal with these people in these kinds of applications that we see all the time. Right now they have a right to make the application; they are all refused. We have to go to court on them.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
Just going over to Mr. Philip Mooney, I heard Mr. Waldman indicate—and you have, to some degree—that the minister presently has the ability or the authority under the present legislation to prioritize certain categories of applicants in the skilled or less skilled categories or the economic category. Is that what you're saying?
4:25 p.m.
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
In fact, it's been done widely since IRPA.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
4:25 p.m.
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
Provincial nominees, Quebec nominees--the individuals who have a job offer in Canada for when they become—
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
4:25 p.m.
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
All of those are prioritized by directive from the minister.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
So you're saying this legislation, that gives the authority to the minister to prioritize, is somehow difficult for you to live with now?
4:25 p.m.
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
No, it's unnecessary in that regard.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
Are you saying, then, that to the extent this legislation gives the minister the right to prioritize, it's not different from what already exists in the act? Is that what you're saying?
4:25 p.m.
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
That's what I'm saying, yes, except the issue then says...but the minister is justifying the need to do that and is imposing retroactivity to the decision-making process. That's what we object to. The prioritization has been going on forever.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
So you have no problems with the prioritization.
May 12th, 2008 / 4:25 p.m.
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
Well, I can argue or not argue: they have the power to do it.
4:25 p.m.
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
No.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
And Mr. Waldman said, and I gather you would agree with him, that it doesn't apply to any applications prior to February of....
4:25 p.m.
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
It impacts those applications, absolutely. Because if you're sitting in that line-up and you're not one of the group that gets prioritized, even out of the backlog, as the minister has announced, your wait times get longer. And the reason people are waiting....
Everyone talks about how long it takes to get to Canada. They're not waiting that long because the line-up is so big; they're waiting that long because people keep getting put in front of them. As a result, the number being processed out of the regular skilled worker process is getting fewer and fewer. So this group, this big nut that's there, just won't get any smaller, and time will drag on and on.
It's gone from one year, to one and a half years, to three years, to five years, to seven years. Now it's going to go more.