June 27, 2002

Re: Letter to the Editor

From: David L. Rosenblatt
Managing Director, Rosenblatt Associates (www.immigrate.net)
President, The Federation for Better Immigration Policy
www.savecanada.com)

Address:
335 Bay Street, Suite 1000
Toronto, Ontario M5A 4K5

Telephone: (416) 861-9429

David L. Rosenblatt, B.A., LL.B. is Managing Director of Rosenblatt Associates (www.immigrate.net), one of Canada's top immigration law firms; and President of The Federation for Better Immigration Policy (www.savecanada.com), a lobby group dedicated to influencing position immigration policy changes in Canada.

So much for Canada being a nation built on immigration. For almost two centuries, immigration has been a cornerstone of Canada's economic growth and prosperity. But the new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations decimates the most important part of the immigration system: the independent skilled worker category. The new criteria will exclude 80-90% of skilled worker applicants who would have qualified under the old criteria.

This change comes despite overwhelming testimony from employer advocates that growth of Canadian businesses is stagnating due to skilled labour shortages, which this country's current workforce cannot meet. Skilled worker immigration applicants are assessed through a "point system". To qualify, applicants must obtain enough points to meet the minimum pass mark. Under the old system the pass mark was 70/100. Under the new
system the pass mark is 75/100, and available points are now weighted to favour applicants with Master's degrees of PhDs, proficiency in English and French, a job offer in Canada, previous work or study in Canada, and a spouse with a higher education.

Immigration Minister Denis Coderre says this new system makes it easier for skilled tradespeople to qualify. But how many skilled tradespeople have PhDs, are fluent in English and French, and have previously worked or studied in Canada? Most don't, so they can't get enough points to pass. Few applicants will get points for having a job offer. What Canadian employer will give a job offer, and then wait 1-4 years for the worker to get a visa and come to Canada to start work?

The new system discriminates against single applicants. Approximately 40 per cent of applicants are not married. How does this make them any less suitable for Canada?

Most controversial is Minister Coderre's intention to impose the new point system "retroactively" to hundreds of thousands of applications already in process. These applicants have been waiting 1, 2, 3, even 4 years, only to have the rules change mid-process without notice. They met the old criteria when they submitted their application, but most will not meet the new criteria. Their applications will be refused, and the government plans to keep the processing fees they paid.

Retroactivity is unprecedented and removes all certainty and predict ability from the immigration system, making it no more than a lottery. Retroactivity is offensive and goes against Canadian values of fairness of justice.

Minister Coderre said he would to listen to the public on these issues. He went through the motions, allowing for public hearings to be held from January to March of 2002. But he didn't listen to the recommendations from legal experts, industry groups, employer advocates, or even from the government's own Immigration Committee advising him to abandon retroactivity, change the point test criteria and lower the pass mark to a reasonable level.

The most regrettable thing is Canadians have done almost nothing to stop these immigration policy changes. Here we are, a nation of immigrants, yet most of us remain silent.  Immigrants, as a sector of Canada's population, have the potential for immense political power and influence - especially now that the Liberal government is divided and will have to scramble for support to win the next federal election.

Historically, the Liberals have relied heavily on support from immigrant voters, yet the government's new immigration policies slap immigrants in the face. Across Canada, the Liberals are losing the support of immigrants, and this could cost them the next election. Minister Coderre and Prime Minister Jean Chrétien have used slight-of-hand tricks to push through the new immigration legislation. For their next move, Coderre and Chrétien want to force new immigrants to live where the government determines they should live in order to meet specific regional economic and employment demands. This form of population control is
hardly a "liberal" policy, as we learned from Nazi Germany, apartheid South Africa, the European-American slave trade, and many other examples, past and present. Think about this when you go to the polls to vote in the next federal election. If Coderre and Chrétien won't abandon their authoritarian immigration agenda, then Paul Martin is the clear choice for Liberal leadership and for Canada's next Prime Minister.

We encourage you to tell the government you oppose the new immigration legislation. Visit our web site @ www.savecanada.com for more information and use our online e-mail form to send letters to the government.