Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has finally admitted that he is in political trouble and that the government has botched the new rules for immigrants.
Independent adult applicants who applied before December 17, 2001 will now have the old rules applied until January 1, 2003. These applicants will be at the mercy of the speed of the bureaucracy to get the paperwork done. If the slow administration does not work by January 1, 2003 then the new rules will apply to the backlog, but the bar will be set at 70 points under the new rules instead of the intended 80 points.
There are literally thousands of backlogged applications due to continued under-resourcing of a swamped bureaucracy. The public reaction to the practical consequences of the regulations has generally been very negative. In contrast, the Canadian Alliance is committed to providing a simple credible system that the public can understand and politically support.
The system lets in possible terrorists but screens out university graduates with fine reputations. This whole mess reveals that the Liberals cannot manage the public interest.