Reduced skilled labour and affected families, said NDP critic Sims
by Samantha Bayard
OTTAWA , March 26, 2013 (Straight Goods News) – Immigration minister Jason Kenney proudly announced reducing Canada’s immigration backlog by 40 percent today but didn't say he'd done so by simply deleting more than 200,000 applicants from the queue.
"Backlogs and delays prevent Canada from attracting the best and brightest from around the world and ensuring that our immigration system is contributing to economic growth and long-term prosperity," said Kenney in a news release issued during Question Period.
NDP immigration critic Jinny Sims was outraged. “We have a minister who hit the delete button on close to 300,000 skilled workers applications… basically a minister who has shut the door on many avenues of immigration to this country and then today he gets to say ‘well I have reduced the backlog’, the fact is he has closed applications.
Conservatives have reduced the immigration backlog at the expense of legitimate applicants – Jinny Sims.
“When he hit the delete button on 267,000 applications that wasn’t 267,000 individuals who were impacted that was 267,000 files, that was families”, said Sims describing the effect of these deletions. “I talk to constituents and community members right across this country who tell me the devastating effect on their families when they can’t see their parents and grandparents. So for the minister to claim that he has done this by some sort of magic — there is no magic in this. When you shut the door and keep hitting the delete button, the numbers are going to go down.”
About Samantha Bayard
Samantha Bayard is a young journalist living and working out of Ottawa. She has been a contributor to the Straight Goods News family of websites since 2009. She is an avid cyclist and lover of animals.
2 Responses to “Immigration backlog cut by deleting 200,000+ applicants”
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[…] though, that he'd done that by simply eliminating people from the list. As the NDP's Jinny Simms said, Kenney “hit the delete button on close to 300,000 skilled workers applications… […]
Please be informed that I waited since September 2005 up to now. Given up lots of overseas job opportunities in the past because I was hoping that one day I will be able to live and work in Canada permanently. Now Canadian Embassy in Manila is saying that my application was terminated. I wasted my time, youth, overseas job opportunities and investment opportunities during the past more than 7 long years.
It is not fair to treat us like that, we are human beings.
Seeing new applicants filed in 2011 and 2012 leave for Canada is heartbreaking for my part. It should be first in first out and not last in first out. Where is justice here?
I always get a reply from the Canadian Embassy in Manila during the past 7 years that my application is being processed every time I write to them for follow up. How can an application being processed be terminated easily just like that.
I declare victory to justice because we have an Almighty God who is fair and just.
Jeffrey C. Chiu
Baguio City, Philippines.