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.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
If you accept the fact that Parliament sets a sort of global number of people who can come in, let's say 245,000 or 265,000—
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
That's the elephant in the room.
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
This is for everybody here: that's the elephant in the room.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
—265,000 per year, and if you simply keep receiving applications as they come in, without any particular limitation, the backlog is going to continue to grow proportionately, as it has now to 900,000.
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
Absolutely, but the minister doesn't have to receive the applications. The minister can say to any group at the start that the class is sold out and we can't take any more in this category for the next two years. They can say that ahead of time.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
You're saying that provision or power in legislation currently exists?
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
Absolutely.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
What Bill C-50 does is indicate that the minister doesn't have to, or the department doesn't have to, receive every application that comes in.
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
They completely will not accept your application. In other words, don't send us your application, this category is closed. That's very easy to understand.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
And you're saying that exists under the current legislation. How does Bill C-50 impinge on that?
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
Bill C-50 changes that because it says that we're going to take your application. We don't know if we're going to process you, so a year from now, six months, two years, three years, we're going to come back to you and say, “You know what? We don't want you.”
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
That's precisely the point. If the person doesn't qualify for the particular category or group, that application--
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
No, they qualify at the time they send their application in.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
They wouldn't necessarily, because the instruction would exist prior to the application being sent.
National President, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants
No, the instruction could be issued after they've applied.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
Let me ask you a couple of further questions, quickly, if you're able to answer them.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
Five seconds? I would say that's probably too short.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Norman Doyle
Sorry, time is now expired. I have to cut it off there because we have another group waiting to come on at 4:30.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Chair, there were three minutes that Mr. Komarnicki started by attacking--
Conservative
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Mr. Chair, with all due respect, sir, I'd like to have two minutes.
Conservative
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
That was Mr. Komarnicki who started the damn thing, and this is why—