Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, my name is Ping Tan. I am the executive co-chair of the National Congress of Chinese Canadians. I very much appreciate the opportunity to appear before the committee this afternoon on these very important amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
The National Congress of Chinese Canadians was established in Vancouver in 1992 following a resolution at the national convention of Chinese Canadians in May 1991 in Toronto to discuss and try to get a fair settlement of the Chinese head tax and the Chinese exclusion act. Over 500 delegates from across the country representing over 200 associations attended that meeting and, as a result, the congress was established to pursue a fair settlement of the head tax and the Chinese exclusion act.
In October 2005, I appeared before a committee of this House regarding a private member's bill, brought by Mr. Inky Mark, a member of Parliament from Manitoba, regarding redress of the head tax and the Chinese exclusion act. The bill received second reading. Unfortunately, an election was called and it did not receive third reading. So it did not pass and become law.
Also in October 2005, I signed an agreement in principle on behalf of the National Congress of Chinese Canadians with the then Minister Raymond Chan, to address the head tax and the Chinese exclusion act. That agreement in principle was signed. However, the current government has yet to honour that agreement.
Today I appear before you again on behalf of the National Congress of Chinese Canadians to study the proposed amendments to part 6 of Bill C-50. I would like to recommend to the committee that it remove these proposed amendments from the budget bill. It is the view of the National Congress of Chinese Canadians that the proposed amendments give too much discretionary power to the minister that is not necessary. Part 6 should be removed from the budget bill.
We share the view of the legal profession, as represented by the Canadian Bar Association, that the proposed amendments are not necessary, because they will remove parliamentary oversight of the exercise of the proposed discretionary power by the minister. The exercise of that discretionary power would not be subject to judicial review. I'm sure you have heard similar views expressed already.
These proposed amendments are inconsistent with Canadian values and the Canadian parliamentary system of government. The proposed amendments, if passed, will fundamentally change the current legislative and regulatory framework for the selection of immigrants. It will erode public confidence in the integrity and fairness of our immigration selection system, because qualified prospective applicants, after waiting years, will be subject to ministerial discretion and not be approved.
We support the government's announced intention to deal with and reduce the immigration application backlog, and the need to bring in the skilled workers that we need in the most speedy way to meet the current labour market demands. We are all supportive of that. However, the current legislation and the regulations already give the minister the needed authority to deal with these issues. More powers, especially discretionary powers, are not justified.
We are particularly concerned that there has been no public consultation about these major changes. In the last 30 years, when the government of the day decided to bring in new immigration laws, there have always been wide public consultations.
Why such a rush this time for such a fundamental change? The Chinese Canadian community is still dealing with the impact of the Chinese head tax and the Chinese exclusion act. We should not make another mistake again.
I have tried to confine myself to seven minutes, Mr. Chairman. You can see that I'm not done yet, but I'd like to take questions.