Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Dec. 10th, 2009

[Neethan Shan]

I think we have to look at the pressure on South Asian as well as Asian communities, which are usually seen as model minorities. We talked about a lot of the issues that the Chinese and South Asian communities face. There's a lot of success in this community. People have become MPs and so on from very different backgrounds. But it's important for us to realize that South Asians are not a homogenous group. In Crescent Town there are newcomer Bangladeshi communities—most of them have second degrees, third degrees, and they are still not finding employment. If I put a posting out, I get 300 or 400 internationally trained professionals applying for a job that's $12 or $15 an hour.

Go to schools in Scarborough and see who is being suspended, who is being expelled. Go to Markham and see how much space the South Asian population has to play cricket. About 40% of the youth in that area play cricket, but there are no facilities. Take the city of Toronto. There's no South Asian city councillor in the whole city. We have to look beyond the engineers and the doctors. There is a class issue in all of our communities, and there is an elite group. Sometimes when we become successful in certain areas we create a smokescreen that hides a lot of problems.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Let me interrupt, because this discussion could go on for quite a while.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

No, it won't, Mr. Dykstra.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

I want to use some of my time to ask another question.

Mr. Shan, my parents are immigrants from the Netherlands. They make the same arguments that you do, and it's certainly true that there are those in our community who have risen up and those who have been left behind. My point is that this perception is not confined to one group or culture. It is an ongoing issue that we face as a country. In fact, we're going through it right now because of the recession.

[Neethan Shan]

There were lots of examples of domestic violence, lots of examples of sexual abuse. These victims represent a smaller population than what we are talking about, but we don't want to leave these populations out.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

On that we definitely agree.

Mr. Chang, you commented on the need to improve the soft support for foreign credential recognition. We've gone through this process. It's just been announced. We have a pan-Canadian approach, with provincial and territorial governments on side. It's only eight to eleven professions now, but it's going to grow over the next three years. I'm intrigued by the comment about the soft support. It sounds more like a community effort than a top-down government initiative. I wanted to give you a chance to comment.

[Joe Chang]

Definitely, we are on the front lines. We see the issues. Many of the problems related to employment and professional certification have to do with communications. How do you communicate properly? It's not just written English or spoken English. It's how you present yourself, how you interact with people. These things are very important. That's why I called them “soft skills”. I think we should do more in this area.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you, Mr. Chang and Mr. Dykstra. I think that will conclude our questions to you for this morning.

I want to thank all of you for coming. Your comments and observations will be most helpful in helping us prepare our report to the House of Commons. Thank you for coming.

The orders say that we go in camera. However, I think we'll try to avoid that, unless it's necessary. There's a budget before you. Do we have a motion to that effect?

It's been moved. Are there any comments?

Monsieur St-Cyr.

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

I want to know whether they are past expenses for witnesses who have appeared.

[An hon. member]

They are past expenses.

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Yes.

(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

The final item has to do with this topic. These were our final presenters. It's been suggested to me that for the next meeting the staff prepare a draft report with a summary of the evidence and perhaps a summary of the recommendations. Or we could have a meeting to give direction. I'd suggest the first option. There seems to be a consensus for that.

Go ahead, Mr. Young.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

I would like to see a report, and I'm sure the staff will do a good job. What I'd really like to see in this report is what is working out there in the field across Canada and what is not working so well. That's what I would like to see, if you don't mind my commenting.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Okay.

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for helping me run these meetings. We seem to have had a good, productive time. We will adjourn until the next meeting, which will be at the call of the chair.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year.

This meeting is adjourned.