Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Minister, thank you, and also to your officials.
I listened very carefully to what you had to say, but there's always this impression you give, and your government gives, that in fact you're very open to immigration. I've yet to receive from you or your department the rationale as to why, over the past three years you've been in government, the Conservative government has shut its door on more than 50,000 landed immigrants. That is a concern I have, and it's very inconsistent with the messaging of this government that in fact it is a government that cares, a government that is open to immigration. The landed immigrant numbers speak to a different reality.
The other issue concerns the foreign credentials accreditation. This program was announced with much fanfare, yet last time you were here I asked you to find out how many immigrants have actually received foreign credential accreditation as a result of the investment made by this government.
The other issue concerns the processing times for skilled workers. When you look at 2004 versus the actual date, you see that Pakistan went from 44 months to 70 months; China, from 47 months to 68 months; Sri Lanka, from 41 months to 71 months; India, from 50 months to 73 months; Syria, from 55 months to 71 months; Manilla, from 53 months to 65 months.
I know those are quite a few points I've raised already, but I'm not done yet.
There's also concern about the whole issue of refugees and how that particular part of the portfolio is being handled. According to your own departmental performance reports that were recently issued, the backlog of refugee claims has more than doubled since the Conservatives took office, the number of finalized claims has decreased by 50%, the average processing times have increased to an average of 14 months due to fewer experienced decision-makers, and even the average cost per claim has increased by almost $2,000 over the last three years.
Forgive me, Minister, but I think there are a lot of things going on here that require attention, and quite frankly, it's a record that concerns me as an individual who cares about immigrants and immigration here in Canada. I view immigration as a very important pillar, a foundation of nation building, so these issues create a great deal of concern to me and to the millions of Canadians who've chosen this country as their new land.
I would like you to go through this, and if you don't have enough time, perhaps you could send responses in writing to me, so I can in fact relay that message also to the many individuals who have raised these issues.