《A public letter to Mr. Jason Kenny, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration》
To the honorable Minister of Immigration, Mr. Jason Kenny,
We are Chinese professionals who applied as skilled workers (FSW’s) at the visa posts in Beijing and Hong Kong and are in danger of being wiped out by virtue of a provision buried in Bill C-38, the budget implementation bill. We applied to immigrate to Canada because we believed that Canada is governed by the rule of law and treats everyone equally. Sadly, the conduct of the Minister of Immigration reveals an alternative, sinister side of Canada, one mirroring the same attitude toward the people as people in autarchy is used to seeing. Please prove that this disillusioning parallel is not accurate.
About a year ago, we gathered here to ask that our files be assessed as the Consulate long promised to do. We were hoping to see some evidence of truthfulness from Immigration Canada and its officials. In August, we received a response: The Consulate reaffirmed its commitment to assess our files. We were relieved and, trusting in the veracity of Canadians, hopeful that you would keep your word.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2012/2012-02-16.asp
However, on March 30th, the Minister announced that, effective the day before, you were abolishing our files. We were shocked and perplexed. After all, in February, you have declared:
“
To maintain the support of Canadians for our generous immigration and refugee systems, we must demonstrate that Canada has a fair, well-managed system that does not tolerate queue jumping,” concluded Minister Kenney.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2012/2012-02-16.asp
And yet, the Minister intends to wipe out the queue in which we have been standing four to six years. The message you are sending is: “Don’t wait patiently in the immigration queue. Charter a ship, sail to Canada, seek asylum and be supported by the government while you await our decision”. We do not want welfare; we do not want to break your laws. So, why are you telling us to do so? Does the word of Canada mean so little to the Minister? Does democracy mean so little to the Minister? Instead of allowing MP’s to discuss your plan, to study and vote on it, the Minister buried it in the 400+ page Bill C-38, which, because it is the Budge bill, must be passed or the Government will fall and new elections called. Clearly, Bill C-38 will, therefore, pass because the Government, just like in China, controls Parliament and, showing total distain for parliamentary procedures, allowed only 28.5 hours of feigned debate. Given the importance of the legislation to Canada, how many seconds will the Government allocate to our issue? How many Canadian seconds are the six year we Chinese have been waiting worth in your eyes?
If the Minister believed in the correctness of s. 87(4), the provision you will use to wipe us out, you would have allowed it to be debated, analyzed and voted on its own merits, as opposed to hiding it in the budget bill. So we know that, you know that, if had allowed Parliament to do so, it would have reject this provision, not only because it is so very, very un-Canadian, so damaging to the image of Canada but also, because if anyone analyzed your professed justifications, they would immediately know that they are false.
1. It would not take eight years to process our files. It has only taken four years because, in 2008, you decided to leapfrog ahead of us newer files, adding four years to the processing. Applying that rate, the current inventory would be finalized within 17 months!
2. If CIC had processed as many FSW applications in 2010 and 2011 as it did in 2009, all the files would have been assessed. Instead, CIC reduced production each year to the point that in 2011, it processed only half as many as in 2009. Here are CIC’s figures:
Number of FSW Files Finalized
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
79,447 70,900 72,326 114,549 93,242 57,253
http://www.data.gc.ca/default.asp?l...d&formid=FD6F93ED-6249-42A4-AC30-5A1A7AA48389
Federal Skilled Worker Inventory, 6 January 2012
2004 to 26Feb 2008 27Feb08 to25 Jun10 26Jun10 to 30Jun11 1July11 to 6Jan12
Total 105,491 43,994 9,371 5,495 164,351
3. The Minister says that, unlike the occupations on the Occupation List, our job skills are not needed in Canada. However, you have never shown any proof of this claim, and we have checked Canada’s Job Bank and found more openings for occupations not on the list than those such as medical doctors on your list.
All of us applied in the 2006-2008 time-frame and paid the fee for having our files assessed and finalized. You gave us an estimated time to do so and, in many cases, you ordered us to expend enormous time, money and effort to prepare the full package of documents within 120 days of being so ordered. At that time, you said that a decision would be made within that 120-day period, but it was not.
When you introduced the current queue-jumping processing policy, you assured us that our files would still be processed. CIC website stated in March 2008:
"
All those who applied before February 27, 2008, will be processed to a final decision. But it will take some time to process them all. Given the backlog, it cannot be reduced overnight. …"
We believed CIC. The feedback for our periodic inquiries as well as the formal response to our protest always demonstrated that our cases were not forgotten and will be processed till closure. We were advised to wait patiently for our cases to be reviewed.
Because of those assurances, we waited with great patience and did not actively investigate other countries’ immigration opportunities or alternate avenues to immigrate to Canada, including, for example, re-applying under the 2008 changes. We organized our lives in anticipation of immigrating to Canada. Personal development, career and family plan were reviewed and adjusted in order to align with the upcoming changes.
If our cases will be wiped out, we will be suffering not only the material loss resulting directly from the application and preparation, but also negative impact to the future. Those losses, those negative impacts and that precious four to six years’ waiting in vain, by no means, can be compensated by a simple refunding of application fee. Indeed, your Government does not allow its citizens tohold backtax payments without assessing interest on their indebtedness, but you have shown yet again the double standard by which you operate by not even paying interest on the money you owe.
The Minister knows that your action warrants damage awards being made against the Government because s.87(5) deprives us of the right to seek the damages you knows you has caused us. Even the current German government paid damages to those whom the previous government had harmed, but Minister you bar us from the compensation he knows is our due. But, we do not want damages: we want Canada to keep its oft-repeated promise to assess and finalize our files. We prefer to believe that Canada is honest and democratic. Please allow us to believe that of Canada. Delete s.87(4) from Bill C-38! Restore our faith in Canada.
CHINESE VICTIMS OF FSW APPLICATIONS
2012-05
