Thank you.
We have opportunities for new ideas. Recent experience with the federal cap of 700 applications in the investor category would seem to indicate that reducing supply by itself is not a useful tool for curtailing demand. As we know, all 700 applications were filled in one day, due to the operations of a few immigration agencies from one source country. Methods and policies that are more innovative than simple caps are needed to balance demand and supply for critical immigration programs.
CMI is simply suggesting that we need to do wider consultations, that there are opportunities and ideas out there to be able to address demand, and that these ideas should come from communities and from the practitioners and operators in the communities, ideas that can be brought forward to address both the operational issues and some of the political and community issues surrounding the issue of backlogs.
Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak today.