The Conservative Party has yet again secured the support of the Liberal opposition on an issue previously strongly disputed by the Liberals. This time the issue at hand is the immigration reform. In an attempt to avoid provoking an untimely election, the Liberal Party was forced to accept the propositions of the Harper government that it publicly rejected.
One of the provisions of the reform sanctions the Minister of Immigration to make decisions on adjusting immigration flow, establishing preferred categories of immigrants as well as resolving individual immigration and refugee claim cases. According to the opponents of the proposed bill, the drafted changes may lead to discriminatory practices in the immigration process. Remarkably, the opposition does not discuss the interests of the nation as part of this debate. Meanwhile, the main idea of the reform is to allow the Minister of Immigration to quickly respond to the needs of country by determining which categories of immigrants are in demand in Canada. Certainly, there are concerns that the Minister will have the opportunity to reduce the quotas on other immigration categories, those for instance, that will be deemed to be an unnecessary burden on the country but at the same time represent desirable electorate for one or another political party. The practical consequences of the reform will be evident in the not-so-distant future.
In the meantime, it is interesting to note the results of a recently published study conducted by Statistics Canada. The results of the study show that the success of immigrants, among other factors, is largely influenced by their background, more specifically their country of origin. However, this assertion is not supported by specific data that would allow to precisely determine the cultural background that warrants immigrants’ success in adapting to life in Canada or pinpoint the reasons for this success such as, language proficiency, business initiative, high demand for a given occupation or belonging to one or another group widely represented in the public sector.
Immigration Reform
The Conservative Party has yet again secured the support of the Liberal opposition on an issue previously strongly disputed by the Liberals. This time the issue at hand is the immigration reform. In an attempt to avoid provoking an untimely election, the Liberal Party was forced to accept the propositions of the Harper government that it publicly rejected.
One of the provisions of the reform sanctions the Minister of Immigration to make decisions on adjusting immigration flow, establishing preferred categories of immigrants as well as resolving individual immigration and refugee claim cases. According to the opponents of the proposed bill, the drafted changes may lead to discriminatory practices in the immigration process. Remarkably, the opposition does not discuss the interests of the nation as part of this debate. Meanwhile, the main idea of the reform is to allow the Minister of Immigration to quickly respond to the needs of country by determining which categories of immigrants are in demand in Canada. Certainly, there are concerns that the Minister will have the opportunity to reduce the quotas on other immigration categories, those for instance, that will be deemed to be an unnecessary burden on the country but at the same time represent desirable electorate for one or another political party. The practical consequences of the reform will be evident in the not-so-distant future.
In the meantime, it is interesting to note the results of a recently published study conducted by Statistics Canada. The results of the study show that the success of immigrants, among other factors, is largely influenced by their background, more specifically their country of origin. However, this assertion is not supported by specific data that would allow to precisely determine the cultural background that warrants immigrants’ success in adapting to life in Canada or pinpoint the reasons for this success such as, language proficiency, business initiative, high demand for a given occupation or belonging to one or another group widely represented in the public sector.
