Let us recall that Canada's political system is a parliamentary republic, the essence of which is that the country is governed by a Cabinet of Ministers composed of members of the party that won the majority of votes and the parties that were in alliance with it. The leader of the victorious party becomes the Prime Minister, that is, the official head of state. This system was inherited by Canada from Britain, of which the land of the maple leaf was a dominion for a long time.
The new Prime Minister of Canada was the leader of the Conservative Party, Stephen Harper, who, after taking the oath on February 6, 2006, presented the composition of the new Cabinet of Ministers. Obviously, the country is in for changes, including a change of orientations and priorities in foreign and domestic policy. The fact is that the Conservatives came to power after 12 long years of rule by the Liberal Party, whose positions had long been strong and unshakable. All that could topple the Liberals was only the facts of corruption and squandering of state funds by them that came to light and received wide publicity. Therefore, the Conservatives' victory was expected, although with some apprehension, since the coming to power of a new party will undoubtedly significantly affect Canada's policy in many areas. Including in the area of immigration.
Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult today to say how the Conservatives' policy in this area will be built, since no official statements on this matter have been made. Nor did it help that on February 6, the name of the new Minister of Citizenship and Immigration of Canada became known, which was Monte Solberg. All that is known about him is that he is from Calgary, before starting his political career he worked for 17 years in the field of television and radio broadcasting, and in recent years he was the official critic from the Conservative Party on financial matters. He also has the reputation of a person who is not afraid of conflicts and is one of the first to express his opinion. In particular, he was the first to speak out against the law recognizing same-sex marriage, and was one of the most consistent critics of the Liberal government. However, we were unable to find any comments from Monte Solberg on the topic of immigration.
Speaking of Monte Solberg's appointment as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration of Canada, the following considerations suggest themselves. On the one hand, the choice is unexpected, since Solberg was mainly involved in financial tasks, and he is considered the architect of the Conservatives' tax policy. At least, immigration issues were not the main topic of his speeches, and a figure of such a level should clearly play a more significant role in the Conservative cabinet. Perhaps his tenure in the current post is temporary, and new appointments can be expected in the foreseeable future.
On the other hand, if Monte Solberg came to the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration for a long time, this indicates the attention that the Conservatives pay to this topic. And, it seems, such an appointment is still not accidental. Already from the Conservative election program it was clear that immigration policy is one of their priority tasks. If only for the reason that the number of immigrants in Canada is already such that they have begun to play a noticeable role, and all political parties are fighting for their votes. In addition, immigration policy is directly related to the country's security, which acquires special significance in the context of the growth of international terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism. Finally, immigration to Canada is far from being as beneficial to the country as is commonly believed, since many of the new residents have problems finding employment and prefer to receive benefits, becoming a burden on working citizens. Added to this is the problem of illegal immigration and refugees, which also negatively affects the situation within the country. Therefore, there is no doubt that the new government will have a very attentive attitude to immigration issues.
So, what did the Conservatives promise to turn their attention to in the event of victory? Given that they sharply criticized the Liberals for indulging refugees, who easily received permanent resident status in Canada, while the admission of skilled workers was hampered in every possible way by a high passing score and drawn-out case processing times, one must assume that this is exactly what the Conservatives will try to sort out.
In particular, one can assume that the Conservatives will create a commission to review refugee cases in order to bring order to this area, which is hard to disagree with. The fact is that currently the practice of reviewing cases of asylum seekers is such that these people wait for a decision for ten years or more. In order to streamline and speed up the decision-making process for this category, in accordance with the new immigration law adopted in June 2002, it was necessary to create a commission (Refugee Board), but the Liberals failed to do this for three and a half years, effectively violating the law. In addition, critics of the Liberal Party clearly hint that there is evidence of abuses in refugee decision-making that should be subject to investigation. Therefore, it can be assumed that obtaining refugee status will be much more difficult, and measures should be expected to deport those who are in the country without status. Apparently, this will become the priority task of the new Minister of Citizenship and Immigration of Canada at first.
Regarding immigration under the Skilled Workers category. Undoubtedly, the number one task of any government at the moment is to reduce the processing times for immigration applications to Canada under this category. However, wishes are wishes, but their implementation requires certain efforts and resources. And not everything is clear with this. The fact is that one of the Conservatives' election promises was to halve the Right of Permanent Residence Fee, that is, to reduce it from 975 Canadian dollars per adult family member to 485 dollars. Given that Canada currently receives on average 166 million dollars in these settlement fees, reducing this amount by half will clearly not benefit the work of the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, and accordingly will not help reduce processing times.
True, there has long been talk that additional funds need to be attracted from the budget to solve the problem. Apparently, this will have to be done, but if the amount of revenue from settlement fees is also reduced, the task becomes more complicated. Probably, this problem will be addressed somehow, but it is unlikely that they will get around to it first. Therefore, one should probably expect a worsening of the ministry's work (including Canadian embassies abroad) and an increase in processing times in the near future. In addition, usually when the minister and senior officials change, a slowdown and deterioration in work is observed. Unfortunately, these are the costs of the transition period, and one can only hope that this period does not drag on for long.
Another task of the Conservatives is to facilitate the process of recognition of the qualifications of newly arrived immigrants by Canadian official bodies. This is a pressing issue, and if the Conservatives can succeed here, it will be a great achievement on their part. The problem, however, is that qualifications are confirmed at the provincial level, and it is difficult to say what approach provincial authorities will take to this issue. One would like to think that the Conservatives will be able to organize this kind of cooperation.
Another pressing issue that the Conservatives have drawn attention to is business immigration. The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration has made the process for this category so complicated, and the review process is so drawn out, that it draws unanimous criticism from everyone who cares. The situation with business immigration looks especially absurd given that applicants in this category are very attractive to the country, as they bring in significant sums of money and create new jobs while working for the Canadian economy. Given that the main point of the Conservatives' election program was the promise to pay special attention to small businesses and their stimulation, as well as the fact that the Conservatives' immigration policy focused on attracting to Canada those who can benefit the country, one should expect some measures to reduce the processing times for the business category and simplify the procedure itself.
Please note that the above is not official information and belongs only to the realm of our assumptions. As of today, there are no official statements from the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration of Canada that we could comment on. Therefore, everything written is merely general considerations regarding the Conservatives' immigration policy. As soon as any official statements on this topic appear, we will certainly inform our readers.
One can only state with reasonable certainty that the Conservatives coming to power after a long period of Liberal rule will undoubtedly have a significant impact on all aspects of life in Canada, including its immigration policy. But it can also be argued that any changes will not happen suddenly and are unlikely to be radical. Our forecast, voiced in previous materials, remains unchanged for now: we believe that at the moment the situation in the field of immigration (in terms of successfully going through the process) remains very favorable. However, the Conservative victory introduces a serious element of uncertainty and unpredictability in the development of the immigration situation in the future, when it comes to reviewing policy and making specific decisions and steps. Given the usual inertia of the bureaucratic machine, such changes may likely not occur before the fall of 2006 - early 2007.
Elena RYABININA.
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