http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/press/speech-2006/publicjustice.html
NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY
THE HONOURABLE MONTE SOLBERG
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
TO THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF CITIZENS FOR PUBLIC JUSTICE
of Citizens for Public Justice
* * * * *
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for the invitation to take part in your annual general meeting this evening. I want to tell you how much I appreciate your organization and what you stand for. Making a living is important, but as citizens, our highest obligation is always to seek justice. And based on the petitions you have been sending me, you are not going to let me forget that.
Looking back, it is hard to believe that it has been a little over a hundred days since our government came into office ? a little over a hundred days since Prime Minister Harper asked me to take on the challenge of serving Canada as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.
Now, some people have asked what perspective an M.P. from Brooks, Alberta, could bring to this role. And yet, immigration in Canada is a matter of importance to us all.
My hometown is a perfect example. Brooks is home to 1,200 former Sudanese refugees, nearly 10% of the community’s total population. They have settled in Brooks to work in our meat-packing plant, where people from all over the world speak dozens of languages. Other communities in my riding represent another aspect of Canada’s immigration issues: a labour shortage. They are working to attract new residents, including immigrants to Canada. And of course, like all of you, the Canadian story of immigration is part of my own family history.
So, I can say that I arrived in this position with at least some sense of many of the issues to be addressed. But since then, I have spent many hours talking with people about citizenship and immigration issues facing Canada and the world. I have talked to my provincial colleagues, to parliamentarians, and to experts.
I have also heard from community-based organizations and individual Canadians. On some issues, people disagree.
On other issues, there is consensus. One issue we agree on is the importance of integration ? of building communities that welcome newcomers to Canada.
With that in mind, I want to salute your choice of topic for this meeting, Welcome the Stranger: Becoming Neighbours. I like that theme, and here is why: Canadians pride themselves on being tolerant, but simply tolerating newcomers is not enough. Too often what passes as tolerance is just plain old indifference. I think we have a responsibility to newcomers. Before we can demand that they embrace Canadian values like respect, equality, fairness and justice, our obligation is to show newcomers respect, equality, fairness and justice. If we preach freedom, we must acknowledge their freedom to practise their faith, culture and customs.
To that end, my government’s investment in settlement services is one of the most fundamental ways in which we are working to help communities to, as you say, “welcome the stranger.” Over the next two years, we will devote an additional $307 million on top of recent investments in expanded support for settlement services. This is because we want newcomers to Canada to have better access to networks of people and services that can help them succeed in communities across this country.
Some of this new money will help us to meet our commitments under the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement of 2005. It will also put the funding in place so that other provinces and territories can address the integration challenges faced by newcomers to their communities.
Since becoming minister, I have seen and heard so many examples of the impact that settlement services have on the lives of newcomers to Canada.
For example, I spoke recently at an event in Calgary where the Catholic Immigration Society has an Oil Workers Orientation Program for newcomers. They told me about a client from Ethiopia.
The Society went out to the oil patch looking for companies and supervisors who were willing to mentor this newcomer. They wanted to find partners who would take a chance on someone who wanted to earn his way in this country. And they succeeded.
It wasn’t always easy. But this young man went that extra mile himself. He used his time at coffee breaks and lunch time to find ways to help his co-workers. He even offered to work extra shifts during the holidays. It didn’t take long for everyone to see the willingness to do a good job. They saw his commitment to the team. And it didn’t take long before he landed a full-time job there ? with a good paycheque ? and a bunch of new friends.
Clearly, settlement agencies make a huge difference in the lives of many newcomers and I am proud that we have made settlement funding a priority in the budget. （看到没有，人家要优先把钱给已经移民的人用，相对的就会缩减驻外移民处的拨款喽）
Reducing the Right of Permanent Residence Fee （降低移民登陆费，已经实现）
Our new government also wants to make it clear that Canada values immigrants.
The Right of Permanent Residence fee of $975 per person was imposed in 1995. It was a real a burden for many immigrants ? and it sent the message that immigrants weren’t welcome, or they were a financial burden. But that is not how we see it.
We have delivered on our commitment to cut the Right of Permanent Residence fee in half from $975 to $490.
For a husband and wife, that’s a $1,000 saving. One thousand dollars that they can use to find their first job and start their new life.
Supporting Families (Foreign Adoptions)（法案也已经颁布）
We are also trying to help families in other ways. Just two weeks ago on the International Day of Families, I was proud to introduce a new bill in the House of Commons to amend the Citizenship Act.
When Canadians adopt overseas and bring that child into their families, there should be no difference in the way the child is treated. The parents shouldn’t have to wait months and months and go through endless paperwork to make that child a citizen.
When that bill is passed and implemented, children adopted by Canadians overseas ? and who meet the legal adoption requirements here ? will go from being mired in bureaucracy to being on the fast-track for citizenship.
Assistance to Victims of Human Trafficking （在国内受迫害人事可以走这条路啦）
I am proud to say we have also taken action to help some of the most vulnerable who come to Canada.
Earlier this month, I announced new measures to protect victims of human trafficking. Immigration officers can now issue temporary resident permits for up to 120 days to victims of human trafficking. The permit helps these victims to begin to recover from the impact of this crime. During those 120 days, they can decide if they wish to return to their home country, or they can apply to stay in Canada.
As part of our commitment to them, we are waiving the usual processing fees and more than that, we have made them eligible for health-care benefits and counselling services under our Interim Federal Health program. This is not a small issue. The RCMP estimates that there are at least 600 to 800 cases of human trafficking in Canada every year.
These new measures give us another tool to support and build on our continuing efforts to stop human trafficking.
Recognizing Foreign Credentials （对已经移民的工程师，医生绝对是好消息）
We know we also have to do a better job of ensuring that our new neighbours land on their feet when they get here. The average income of immigrants is still too low, and too many live in poverty.
Research shows that at the beginning of the 1980s, 66% of skilled workers earned more than the Canadian average income one year after their arrival. By 1996, that had fallen to just four percent. This is a loss both to the individuals and their families, and to Canada as a whole.
We have all heard the stories of engineers and doctors driving taxis in Toronto ? even when there is an acute demand for precisely their skills and experience.
Canada can do better ? and it will. We have committed $18 million in the 2006 budget to take on this issue. The money will help us to work with our provincial partners toward the creation of a new agency that will support the assessment and recognition of foreign credentials.
That agency will help knock down barriers that block talented people from pursuing opportunities in Canada.
International Student Off-Campus Work Permits （也实现了）
Some of the best credentials available in the world are those from Canada’s universities and colleges. The strengths of our post-secondary institutions have led to more and more students from other countries seeking education here. Indeed, today, Canada welcomes about 150,000 international students. Those students contribute approximately $4 billion a year to our economy.
And yet, these students have faced severe restrictions on their ability to find work to support themselves while they are here. This is the case even though many of these students eventually graduate and become permanent residents of this country and contribute their great skills to our economy.
Our government listened. We took action on this issue.
In April, I announced that foreign students will be allowed to compete for off-campus jobs on a level-playing field with Canadian students.
The program will increase Canada’s attractiveness as a destination for students. It will allow foreign students to gain valuable Canadian experience that should benefit both them and us.
I have talked about our recent accomplishments--but at the same time I know there is much more work ahead of us.
The attractiveness of Canada to newcomers has resulted in more immigration applications than we are able to accept. As a result, over the last number of years, the backlog of those wanting to come to Canada has grown to over 800,000 people. The result is that applicants routinely wait for many years to get their chance to come here. That is unacceptable. Our government will work to address the backlog, improve client service and explore options to make the immigration program more responsive to labour market demands.
Refugees （刚刚接收了8名缅甸难民）
But Canada’s approach to citizenship and immigration policy is not just about our national balance sheet ― it is also rooted in deeply held Canadian values and traditions.
Not long ago, in my community I met a young man who had been a refugee from Liberia. He told me that his father had been murdered by the rebels for the high crime of being a Liberian public servant. Then he took off his shirt and showed me where the rebels had poured molten rubber on his arm. He rolled up his pant leg and showed me where a bullet had passed through his leg. But today, that young man is safe in the greatest country in the world because Canadians know that helping refugees is the just and right thing to do. But we can and must do better.
For instance, consider the privately sponsored refugees program. Since 1978, over 180,000 refugees have been resettled in Canada, sponsored by private citizens and permanent residents in accordance with the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program. Without a doubt, private sponsorship gets the best results for refugees, but it goes beyond that. As Rose Dekker, one of your members, put it to me the other day: private sponsorship transforms both the refugee and the sponsor. I think Rose is absolutely right.
But today, the privately sponsored refugees program is bogged down with a back-log and landings have dropped. We need to work together to find a solution so we can resettle more refugees in Canada, and do it faster. Justice demands it. But justice also demands that we not waste precious resources processing applications for people who aren’t refugees. I know my department is working with sponsoring groups to help them select people who are more likely to meet the definition of a refugee and we appreciate their, and your, cooperation.
We know there is simply no magic formula to address all of the issues faced by Canada’s citizenship and immigration system. We do, however, believe that our strategy to address these issues must reflect fairness, compassion and justice for individuals. It must respect the public’s demand for security. It must also help meet our labour market needs and our demographic challenges. It is a difficult circle to square. But what is at stake is too important to spare any effort to make our system the best it can be.
Conclusion
After all, at bottom, immigration policy isn’t really about government. It is about people. It is about lifting the burden for newcomers and improving the lives of Canadians. That is why I am so honoured to be the minister of this department, and I know it is why you are here tonight. Thank you for your selfless commitment to helping newcomers of all kinds, in your pursuit of public justice.
Thank you.
NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY
THE HONOURABLE MONTE SOLBERG
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
TO THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF CITIZENS FOR PUBLIC JUSTICE
Ottawa, Ontario
May 31, 2006
Speech for delivery to members May 31, 2006
of Citizens for Public Justice
* * * * *
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for the invitation to take part in your annual general meeting this evening. I want to tell you how much I appreciate your organization and what you stand for. Making a living is important, but as citizens, our highest obligation is always to seek justice. And based on the petitions you have been sending me, you are not going to let me forget that.
Looking back, it is hard to believe that it has been a little over a hundred days since our government came into office ? a little over a hundred days since Prime Minister Harper asked me to take on the challenge of serving Canada as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.
Now, some people have asked what perspective an M.P. from Brooks, Alberta, could bring to this role. And yet, immigration in Canada is a matter of importance to us all.
My hometown is a perfect example. Brooks is home to 1,200 former Sudanese refugees, nearly 10% of the community’s total population. They have settled in Brooks to work in our meat-packing plant, where people from all over the world speak dozens of languages. Other communities in my riding represent another aspect of Canada’s immigration issues: a labour shortage. They are working to attract new residents, including immigrants to Canada. And of course, like all of you, the Canadian story of immigration is part of my own family history.
So, I can say that I arrived in this position with at least some sense of many of the issues to be addressed. But since then, I have spent many hours talking with people about citizenship and immigration issues facing Canada and the world. I have talked to my provincial colleagues, to parliamentarians, and to experts.
I have also heard from community-based organizations and individual Canadians. On some issues, people disagree.
On other issues, there is consensus. One issue we agree on is the importance of integration ? of building communities that welcome newcomers to Canada.
With that in mind, I want to salute your choice of topic for this meeting, Welcome the Stranger: Becoming Neighbours. I like that theme, and here is why: Canadians pride themselves on being tolerant, but simply tolerating newcomers is not enough. Too often what passes as tolerance is just plain old indifference. I think we have a responsibility to newcomers. Before we can demand that they embrace Canadian values like respect, equality, fairness and justice, our obligation is to show newcomers respect, equality, fairness and justice. If we preach freedom, we must acknowledge their freedom to practise their faith, culture and customs.
To that end, my government’s investment in settlement services is one of the most fundamental ways in which we are working to help communities to, as you say, “welcome the stranger.” Over the next two years, we will devote an additional $307 million on top of recent investments in expanded support for settlement services. This is because we want newcomers to Canada to have better access to networks of people and services that can help them succeed in communities across this country.
Some of this new money will help us to meet our commitments under the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement of 2005. It will also put the funding in place so that other provinces and territories can address the integration challenges faced by newcomers to their communities.
Since becoming minister, I have seen and heard so many examples of the impact that settlement services have on the lives of newcomers to Canada.
For example, I spoke recently at an event in Calgary where the Catholic Immigration Society has an Oil Workers Orientation Program for newcomers. They told me about a client from Ethiopia.
The Society went out to the oil patch looking for companies and supervisors who were willing to mentor this newcomer. They wanted to find partners who would take a chance on someone who wanted to earn his way in this country. And they succeeded.
It wasn’t always easy. But this young man went that extra mile himself. He used his time at coffee breaks and lunch time to find ways to help his co-workers. He even offered to work extra shifts during the holidays. It didn’t take long for everyone to see the willingness to do a good job. They saw his commitment to the team. And it didn’t take long before he landed a full-time job there ? with a good paycheque ? and a bunch of new friends.
Clearly, settlement agencies make a huge difference in the lives of many newcomers and I am proud that we have made settlement funding a priority in the budget. （看到没有，人家要优先把钱给已经移民的人用，相对的就会缩减驻外移民处的拨款喽）
Reducing the Right of Permanent Residence Fee （降低移民登陆费，已经实现）
Our new government also wants to make it clear that Canada values immigrants.
The Right of Permanent Residence fee of $975 per person was imposed in 1995. It was a real a burden for many immigrants ? and it sent the message that immigrants weren’t welcome, or they were a financial burden. But that is not how we see it.
We have delivered on our commitment to cut the Right of Permanent Residence fee in half from $975 to $490.
For a husband and wife, that’s a $1,000 saving. One thousand dollars that they can use to find their first job and start their new life.
Supporting Families (Foreign Adoptions)（法案也已经颁布）
We are also trying to help families in other ways. Just two weeks ago on the International Day of Families, I was proud to introduce a new bill in the House of Commons to amend the Citizenship Act.
When Canadians adopt overseas and bring that child into their families, there should be no difference in the way the child is treated. The parents shouldn’t have to wait months and months and go through endless paperwork to make that child a citizen.
When that bill is passed and implemented, children adopted by Canadians overseas ? and who meet the legal adoption requirements here ? will go from being mired in bureaucracy to being on the fast-track for citizenship.
Assistance to Victims of Human Trafficking （在国内受迫害人事可以走这条路啦）
I am proud to say we have also taken action to help some of the most vulnerable who come to Canada.
Earlier this month, I announced new measures to protect victims of human trafficking. Immigration officers can now issue temporary resident permits for up to 120 days to victims of human trafficking. The permit helps these victims to begin to recover from the impact of this crime. During those 120 days, they can decide if they wish to return to their home country, or they can apply to stay in Canada.
As part of our commitment to them, we are waiving the usual processing fees and more than that, we have made them eligible for health-care benefits and counselling services under our Interim Federal Health program. This is not a small issue. The RCMP estimates that there are at least 600 to 800 cases of human trafficking in Canada every year.
These new measures give us another tool to support and build on our continuing efforts to stop human trafficking.
Recognizing Foreign Credentials （对已经移民的工程师，医生绝对是好消息）
We know we also have to do a better job of ensuring that our new neighbours land on their feet when they get here. The average income of immigrants is still too low, and too many live in poverty.
Research shows that at the beginning of the 1980s, 66% of skilled workers earned more than the Canadian average income one year after their arrival. By 1996, that had fallen to just four percent. This is a loss both to the individuals and their families, and to Canada as a whole.
We have all heard the stories of engineers and doctors driving taxis in Toronto ? even when there is an acute demand for precisely their skills and experience.
Canada can do better ? and it will. We have committed $18 million in the 2006 budget to take on this issue. The money will help us to work with our provincial partners toward the creation of a new agency that will support the assessment and recognition of foreign credentials.
That agency will help knock down barriers that block talented people from pursuing opportunities in Canada.
International Student Off-Campus Work Permits （也实现了）
Some of the best credentials available in the world are those from Canada’s universities and colleges. The strengths of our post-secondary institutions have led to more and more students from other countries seeking education here. Indeed, today, Canada welcomes about 150,000 international students. Those students contribute approximately $4 billion a year to our economy.
And yet, these students have faced severe restrictions on their ability to find work to support themselves while they are here. This is the case even though many of these students eventually graduate and become permanent residents of this country and contribute their great skills to our economy.
Our government listened. We took action on this issue.
In April, I announced that foreign students will be allowed to compete for off-campus jobs on a level-playing field with Canadian students.
The program will increase Canada’s attractiveness as a destination for students. It will allow foreign students to gain valuable Canadian experience that should benefit both them and us.
I have talked about our recent accomplishments--but at the same time I know there is much more work ahead of us.
The attractiveness of Canada to newcomers has resulted in more immigration applications than we are able to accept. As a result, over the last number of years, the backlog of those wanting to come to Canada has grown to over 800,000 people. The result is that applicants routinely wait for many years to get their chance to come here. That is unacceptable. Our government will work to address the backlog, improve client service and explore options to make the immigration program more responsive to labour market demands.
Refugees （刚刚接收了8名缅甸难民）
But Canada’s approach to citizenship and immigration policy is not just about our national balance sheet ― it is also rooted in deeply held Canadian values and traditions.
Not long ago, in my community I met a young man who had been a refugee from Liberia. He told me that his father had been murdered by the rebels for the high crime of being a Liberian public servant. Then he took off his shirt and showed me where the rebels had poured molten rubber on his arm. He rolled up his pant leg and showed me where a bullet had passed through his leg. But today, that young man is safe in the greatest country in the world because Canadians know that helping refugees is the just and right thing to do. But we can and must do better.
For instance, consider the privately sponsored refugees program. Since 1978, over 180,000 refugees have been resettled in Canada, sponsored by private citizens and permanent residents in accordance with the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program. Without a doubt, private sponsorship gets the best results for refugees, but it goes beyond that. As Rose Dekker, one of your members, put it to me the other day: private sponsorship transforms both the refugee and the sponsor. I think Rose is absolutely right.
But today, the privately sponsored refugees program is bogged down with a back-log and landings have dropped. We need to work together to find a solution so we can resettle more refugees in Canada, and do it faster. Justice demands it. But justice also demands that we not waste precious resources processing applications for people who aren’t refugees. I know my department is working with sponsoring groups to help them select people who are more likely to meet the definition of a refugee and we appreciate their, and your, cooperation.
We know there is simply no magic formula to address all of the issues faced by Canada’s citizenship and immigration system. We do, however, believe that our strategy to address these issues must reflect fairness, compassion and justice for individuals. It must respect the public’s demand for security. It must also help meet our labour market needs and our demographic challenges. It is a difficult circle to square. But what is at stake is too important to spare any effort to make our system the best it can be.
Conclusion
After all, at bottom, immigration policy isn’t really about government. It is about people. It is about lifting the burden for newcomers and improving the lives of Canadians. That is why I am so honoured to be the minister of this department, and I know it is why you are here tonight. Thank you for your selfless commitment to helping newcomers of all kinds, in your pursuit of public justice.
Thank you.
