Budget 2007 Fails Immigrants and Refugees

Ottawa – The Conservative government’s litany of broken election promises continues with the scrapping of its plans for a Canadian Agency for Assessment and Recognition of Credentials, Liberal Citizenship and Immigration Critic Omar Alghabra said today.

“Once again we see an example of a prime minister who misled Canadians during the last campaign by promising something that he had no intention of delivering,” said Mr. Alghabra.

“He promised a quick solution to the pressing challenges that many immigrants and new Canadians are struggling with on a daily basis. Creating a store-front that is going to pass the blame is no relief and no real solution.

“The prime minister has missed a huge opportunity to demonstrate real leadership and a commitment to a prosperous, successful and inclusive Canada,” he said.

But the failings of Budget 2007 don’t stop there, Mr. Alghabra added.

It also failed to outline any serious plan to deal with growing backlogs of immigration applications, including family reunification, slow citizenship processing times and long wait times for refugee claimants to obtain scheduled hearings.

"This budget contained no vision for ensuring the successful integration of immigrants, which is essential for the future success of Canada,” Mr. Alghabra said. 
A Statistics Canada report released last week projected that Canada's labour and population growth will exclusively depend on immigration in the near future. 

"It’s no surprise many critics have described the Conservative budget as a vote-buying scheme that fails to address the long term needs of our country,” said Mr. Alghabra. “The Conservatives' approach to the immigration file reveals that at best, they have no plan or vision to deal with immigration issues and at worst, they do not care about voters who consider this file to be crucial for the future success of Canada."