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|Monday Nov. 15, 2004 |
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IS IT
GOOG FOR CANADA TO "CELEBRATE OUR
DIFFERENCES"?
Citizenship and Immigration
Minister wants to bring in "the right people that Canada needs"
Citizenship and Immigration
Minister Judy Sgro, who wants to act swiftly and radically in new
her portfolio, says she wants a profound debate on the future of
Canada and questions whether it's good for the country to keep
"celebrating our differences, instead of what brings us together."
Said Ms. Sgro: "I believe that
Canadians need to be engaged in who do we want as new Canadians in
this country; where should they came from; what skills should they
have. We, as Canadians, should start talking about that."
But the minister was more
specific, saying that we should also be "looking at the whole
identity of the people living here currently and whether we continue
along the avenue of allowing people to celebrate diversity, and look
at the heritage of many of these people. Canada is so diverse now
that, to pretend it isn't is a huge mistake. We need to concentrate
more on what brings us together and what we celebrate together and
we move forward to build the country."
Ms. Sgro said she believes that
"clearly it is time we get engaged in what we need, what Canada
needs to stay competitive, internationally. There are a lot of
complications now. All the countries have the same problem Canada
has: an aging population and declining birth rate. Canadians have to
pay attention to those two issues." Ms. Sgro said she wants to move
swiftly.
In fact she had a meeting with
her provincial counterparts to "talk to them of a plan for the
future, and start to look at a five-year new strategy to make sure
that Canada will stay in the right position and we will bring in the
right people that Canada needs." Ms. Sgro said it's important that
Canadians start asking themselves questions like: "What the labour
market needs, what the employers think they are going to need in the
next four to five years, how are we going to get them here and from
what country? How are we going to deal with those things? Do we need
a new system to handle immigration in Canada?"
According to Ms. Sgro,
Canadians should ask themselves if "the system we presently have,
which people say is very good compared to other countries, is still
the system for the 21st Century that Canada needs. I'm not sure it
is." According to the minister "we have to look at how we handle the
applications, how we process them, how we determine who comes to
this country and who doesn't and then, very important, how we
determine who needs Canada's protection. How are we fulfilling our
obligations under the international obligations, including the
Geneva Convention?" Those are important issues and the minister said
she doesn't believe "Canadians realize how important those questions
are. I believe that we take immigration for granted because this is
a natural process that happened in a country where people apply and
come here." The only time people are engaged "is when they mix the
two issues up: one is a refugee, which has nothing to do with
immigration. Immigration is still hard to get into Canada, like it
was when my husband came and many others.
It's still tough to
get into Canada." In fact, according to the ministry, there are
700,000 applications for people wanting to get into embassies around
the world and Canada accepts 250,000 a year. "We also have to make
sure that those people who do come here are able as soon as
possible to access the labour market and find a job. As soon they
do, they buy a house. Immigration keeps the economy going. That's
critically important. But we do not have a plan and it is time that
Canada have a plan.
That has to be
worked out with employers, the provinces and others and we have to
make sure that we know where Canada is going in a successful way."
Moreover, Ms. Sgro said that she wants to have more input from other
levels of government, not only the provinces "with which we have
agreements and we are working also to make one with Ontario, but
also with municipalities." Ms. Sgro said it is important that "we
find out, for example, what Saskatchewan needs, versus Ontario needs
or Manitoba. We need an immigration system that is in this regard
more flexible and responds to employers, the provinces and our
cities." Municipalities are very important, said Ms. Sgro, in this
process: "Having an agreement with cities will be ultimately another
avenue to get closer to where people understand where the needs are.
By the time the provincial and federal governments get up to the
mark, often is too late. I want to turn the pyramid around. We
should facilitate the needs of our employers, the cities and our
provinces. That's different from how we handle immigration today."
According to the minister "now the system is led by the government
of Canada, it's very bureaucratic and not always in touch with the
reality of what happens on the ground today." Then there's the issue
of refugee claimants. Is our system abused? "Clearly.
In all programs
there is always an opportunity for abuse. There is a lot of abuse in
the refugees' determination system. People know we have a fair and
generous system. That's a reality. We have abuse." Ms. Sgro said
that "when people come to our border and claim refugee status, we
have the obligation to process that application and see if that
person genuinely needs our protection. And we want to do that." But
clearly there is something wrong: "We had to introduce a visa
requirement for Costa Rica early this year. The reason? We had 3,000
people come to our ports of entry last year alone claiming refugee
status. Out of 3,000 only one was grant the refugee status. They
clog the system and people can appeal it. So, the people that truly
need our protection take some times three or four years before they
get a decision. We need to shorten the system." Ms. Sgro has a
suggestion: "We need three steps: we listen to you, we make a
decision and we give a chance on an appeal. We need all of this to
happen in six months not six years. What happens is that people use
this as an avenue for immigration and this is not immigration."
Another major problem Ms. Sgro said Canada has is related to illegal
immigrants.
So what is the plan? "We have a
couple of choices, we can pretend it doesn't exist, keep our head in
the sand and ignore it, or we deal with the issue." She has some
ideas: "I know it is unfair, I know that those are people coming
from the backdoor, but, if they are in this country fulfilling the
needs that Canada has, they don't have a criminal record, let's find
a kind of program for those people." Ms. Sgro said she understands
that many "use the refugee system because they don't have the
necessary points to be immigrants. But they are hard-working and
honest people and they have proven themselves by working for an
employer here, illegally as it may be, but still honest people. I
believe this is the humane thing to do."
The plan, however, doesn't
include a general amnesty: "Surely there is not going to be an
amnesty. There is no support in my government, or across the
country. I believe there is support for a program that will look at
case by case. We can develop a policy and if they fit that parameter
we can solve the problem." And, maybe, the present point system has
to be changed: "I'm not adverse to the fact that, while we look
towards the 21st Century and we ask ourselves what immigration
policy we need, may be Canada need to have a process for people who
don't have 67 points, but there is a need for them. It may be that
they are poor hard working people that deserve to be given a chance.
I believe it is time to open up the debate and move forward." But
these are a lot of ideas that require a lot of funding.
Does she have the required
funding? "That is the proposal that is going to my Prime Minister."
Angelo Persichilli is political editor of Corriere Canadese,
Toronto's Italian-language daily newspaper. |
