Time to speed up immigration changes
The Gazette (Montreal)
Mon 06 Nov 2006
Page: A20

Section: Editorial / Op-ed
Byline:
Source: The Gazette

Around the world, some 800,000 people are waiting to hear
that they are welcome in Canada. But last week, in his department's annual
report, Immigration Minister Monte Solberg had nothing to say to them.
Governments come and go in this country, but immigration problems - in both
theory and practice - endure.

That list of 800,000 people who have applied to come to Canada is 100,000
names longer than a year ago. That so many are knocking at our door simply
reconfirms our own understanding of what a fortunate country this is. That we
can't make our system work better simply reconfirms that we are not managing
immigration very well.

Last week's headlines played up one aspect of Solberg's report: the 2007
target for new permanent immigrants is 240,000 to 265,000, up a little from the
current year's target. That news was widely welcomed, though often with a
knowing nod to the electoral calendar. The Tories, it was said, just want to be
seen as immigrant-friendly. Few seemed to realize that since Canada routinely
exceeds its target total, and is doing so this year, what the Conservatives
propose is no real increase at all.

It may be that this government is, to use an old saying, doing well by doing
good here. And it's not as if only Solberg wants more immigration - the call for
more people reverberates across the land these days, given all the warnings we
hear, depressingly well-documented, about our low birth rate.

And yet we cannot immigrate our way out of our demographic problem. The C.D. Howe Institute
demonstrated last month that since immigrants are only a little younger than
those already here, they have little statistical impact on our demography.
Still, every little bit helps, and so Solberg is right to open the gate for
"economic" immigrants but not for parents and grandparents of those here now.

A harsh measure, that one? Perhaps, to a degree. But let's begin at the
beginning: Canadian immigration policy must serve the Canadian national
interest. For all its self-evident clarity, that notion can get lost on this
emotional issue. There is always a special case, a sad story. But deciding on
individual cases, rather than through clear enforceable rules, means we have no
policy, merely an open door. Few people really want that. Already our refugee
determination system works too much that way: flush your papers on the plane,
get to Canada, say the r-word, and you could be here for years. The backlogs and
inefficiency - not to mention scandals - in refugee cases are disgraceful.
Solberg has asked for a review of the Immigration and Refugee Board appointment
system.

And what are we to do about the illegal aliens (it's fashionable to call them
"undocumented workers") who are here now, hoping for an amnesty? There are some
good arguments for this idea - the Toronto construction industry would implode,
we are told, without such workers.

But there is a more powerful argument against amnesty: as soon as the word
gets out, those 800,000 law-abiding would-be Canadians waiting patiently in
Bangalore and Burundi and Belarus and Bolivia would all be here in a flash, to
wait for the next amnesty.

And yet it makes no sense to send away large numbers of productive and
industrious people while seeking others. We see no satisfactory solution here;
the best Canada can do is to regularize the status of those here and employed
while stepping up measures to reduce new illegal immigration, in part by
speeding up approvals for the well-qualified. How many good people despair of
getting into Canada legally and just sneak in? How many go elsewhere because we
can't quickly settle their cases? One sensible measure: temporary-worker
permits, now used for farm labourers, could be applied to more job categories,
with eventual conversion to the landed-immigrant track for those who flourish
here.

Solberg also spoke of the need to balance security with labour market needs,
and he's got that right. "Security" doesn't cover only terrorism concerns; there
are also plenty of common thugs who would happily move here.

Solberg has been on the job for less than a year; he's got an Augean stable
of a department. Last spring's budget put aside $300 million to teach newcomers
English or French and to help them settle. He says he's working on improved
temporary-worker approvals, and better priority for blue-collar workers, and on
the perennial issue of professional credentials. He also seems to be planning
something about dual citizenship.

He's got his work cut out for him, and a lot of people, in Canada and around
the world, are eager to see some progress.

Edition: Final
Story Type: Editorial
Length:
775 words