Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'd have to say as well that there's not much I like either in the whole bill. The discretionary powers are not the only way to handle the backlog. I also don't see the backlog as much of a problem; I see it as a good thing, a sign that we have a lot of people who would like to c

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I would concur.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Digitizing everything....

Citizenship and Immigration committee  And instead we've spent money on facilitating a greater foreign worker program that works faster for employers. Service Canada is all set up to help channel migrant workers and foreign workers into the Canadian economy faster, but we haven't spent the money on bettering the proce

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes. Here I was referring not to the fact that this leads necessarily to an increase, but that right here in this section we basically have the statement that, in the opinion of the minister, the applications can be processed. So my concern would be—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In section 87.3 you've got applications for a permanent resident status under subsection 21(1) or temporary resident status under subsection 22—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No, this isn't specifically about foreign workers; this is about people applying to come in—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It says “applications for visas or other documents”, work visas essentially, or temporary resident status.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As work visas or as temporary resident status.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The first one, 87.3(1), reads “This section applies to applications for visas or other documents under subsection 11”—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Then “or temporary resident status”.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  They're still given temporary resident status, or they could be given temporary resident status.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  My concern here is just about the potential for the minister to have discretion to choose which foreign workers to let in and which not to let in.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As I read Bill C-50, there's no guarantee that they will be foreign workers or permanent immigrant applicants. My concern is that you have an increase in the number of people coming in as temporary foreign workers, with the promise of being considered for permanent residency, but

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Well, I think we see the increase in temporary foreign workers in the low-skilled sector, which is not necessarily what's being targeted with the skilled worker class as they come in through the permanent—