Where the parties stand on immigration
With an election looming, many readers have been wondering where Canada's major political parties stand on immigration. There has been a lot of speculation, though not always based on fact, that other parties might scale back immigration numbers or make it more difficult for certain categories of people to enter the country.
To make it easier to understand how each party might tackle the issue of immigration if they came to power, we have compiled overviews of each party, and their officially stated policy, drawn from their own websites, policy manuals or from leaders' speeches.
Liberal Party of Canada (leader and Prime Minister: Paul Martin) - [FONT=宋体]自由党[/FONT]
About the Party: The Liberal Party is a centre orientated, nationally based political party. The party tends to pursue policies that are between right-wing conservatism and left-wing socialism. The Liberals have been in power in Canada for most of the 20th century, and remained in power into the 21st century. Throughout their leadership, they have focused on policies such as the welfare state, bilingualism, patriation of the constitution, free trade, and multiculturalism.
Immigration Policy: The Liberals plan to encourage more active recruitment of immigrants to meet Canada's labour and research needs. They recently pledged $1.3 billion over five years to improvement settlement services for new immigrants.
The Liberals want to improve language training and the process of upgrading and recognizing credentials of skilled professionals such as foreign-trained doctors to make it easier for them to work in Canada.
[FONT=宋体]关键内容:鼓励更为积极地吸引移民以满足劳工和研发方面的需求,计划在未来[/FONT]5[FONT=宋体]年投入[/FONT]13[FONT=宋体]亿美元用于改善新移民的服务,包括语言培训,技能提升和专业认证等。[/FONT]
The Conservative Party of Canada (leader: Stephen Harper) [FONT=宋体]保守党[/FONT]
About the Party: The Conservative Party was born in December 2003 following a merger between the Canadian Alliance Party and the Progessive Conservative Party. It was set up in an attempt to “unite the right” and provide a viable alternative to the Liberal Party. The Conservative Party maintains broad-based right-wing policies, focusing on a balance between fiscal accountability and progressive social programs. While the two original parties are closely tied on some policy issues, there is potential for division within the merged party on issues such as immigration, multiculturalism, and social issues.
Immigration Policy: The Conservatives believe new immigrants should not receive national government-funded assistance, but do say they would ensure adequate long-term funding to the provinces to help immigrants settle in Canada. With respect to choosing immigrants, the party believes immigration should be merit-based, with the main criteria being Canada’s economic needs.
They say they would streamline the process of validating refugee claims and toughen laws against illegal immigrants. They would also reverse the policy of separating married couples while application of non-status partner is processed.
The Tories want to establish a new system for assessing the credentials of foreign-trained professionals with a view to granting equivalent Canadian professional status.
[FONT=宋体]关键内容:保守党人认为新移民不应获得国家级的政府资助,但又表示要确保省一级为新移民提供长期的资助以帮助其在加拿大落户。在选择移民方面,该党认为移民政策应以加拿大的经济需求为基础;同时,还应该建立新的系统以便评估国外专业人士的资质,并授予对称的加拿大行业资格。[/FONT]
New Democratic Party of Canada, or NDP (leader: Jack Layton) [FONT=宋体]新民党[/FONT]
About the Party: The NDP are a left-wing, ideologically driven, and nationally based political party. The party advocates social democratic policies and tends not to drastically alter its policies with changes in public attitudes. The party is nationally orientated with support across the country. Human rights issues and cultural diversity have always been cornerstones of their party policy. Progressive policies regarding the environment, health care, education, and culture are all included in the basis of the NDP's socialist democratic policies.
Immigration Policy: The NDP has said that family reunification should be the core principle of Canadian policies on immigration and refugees. They support the following proposals:
Bring real immigration levels up to one per cent of the population
Improve recognition of foreign credentials of professionals
End the head tax on immigrants
Enact a once-in-a lifetime provision to enable Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor one relative to reunite families
[FONT=宋体]关键内容:该党认为家庭团聚应为加拿大移民政策的核心原则。[/FONT]
Bloc Quebecois (leader: Gilles Duceppe) - [FONT=宋体]魁北克地区联盟[/FONT]
About the Party: The Bloc is a left-wing orientated, ideologically driven, and regionally based political party. The Bloc tends to supports social democratic principles and Quebec nationalist policies. The party is orientated towards Quebec with little or no support outside the region.
Immigration Policy: The Bloc would like to see more money transferred to the provinces, specifically Quebec, to oversee their own immigration strategies. They would also like to create an appeal office for refugees. The Bloc promises that if Quebec gains independence, they would promote immigration to attract immigrants to all regions of Quebec. They would promote cultural diversity through the creation of a national institution.
[FONT=宋体]关键内容:该联盟希望有更多的资金进入魁北克区域,移民策略自主。该党还希望能为难民建立上诉办公室。该联盟还许诺,如果魁北克获得独立,将推进移民方面的工作以吸引更多的移民到魁北克的各区域。[/FONT]