Andrew Miller

Likely yes, at least it is what Minister indicated earlier.

It was already covered in this very thread my friend.

Tim Steer

Thank you Andrew, I thought it was mentioned earlier but wasn't 100% sure of the answer. Thanks for clarifying for me.
Kind Regards
Tim

timu12

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/...tion-vote.html

Parliament to vote on Tory immigration changes
Liberals debate defeating government on confidence matter

Controversial proposals to overhaul Canada's immigration system get a third and final reading in Parliament Monday, with the Liberal Opposition debating whether to allow the bill to pass or defeat it and spark a summer federal election.
As well as provisions to address a huge backlog in applications to immigrate to this country, Bill C-50 contains budget implementation measures related to spending on police, public transit and environmental protection.

That makes passage of the legislation a confidence issue, and parliamentary defeat would cause the government to fall.

The bill passed second reading easily last week with only 12 Liberal MPs showing up to cast votes against it.

CBC's Rosemary Barton says there's debate within the Liberal caucus over the bill, which the party opposes, but leader Stéphane Dion doesn't seem to want an election right now.

”The Liberals pride themselves on being close to immigrant communities in this country," Barton says, "but most of them also want to avoid an election. As recently as [last] Friday there was a push inside the Liberal caucus to try and trigger an election, but it would appear the only person who's digging in his heels is Stéphane Dion."

NDP, Bloc oppose bill too
Reluctant to face an election with opinion polls showing a lack of enthusiasm for his leadership, Dion and his party have been abstaining or not showing up for key parliamentary votes for months now.

The Bloc Québécois and the NDP also oppose Bill C-50, which gives the immigration minister discretionary powers to fast-track certain categories of immigrant, such as professional and highly skilled tradespeople, while freezing or denying other applications to come to this country.

Some 925,000 applications are backlogged in Canadian consular missions around the world, with waiting times stretching up to six years in some countries.

Minister of Immigration Diane Finley says that backlog could be cleared up if the bill passes, and "we could get the people we need here, faster."

Last month, NDP MP Olivia Chow tried to force the government to decouple the immigration provisions from the budget measures, but her amendment failed to pass.

Immigrant associations, refugee advocates and human rights campaigners have criticized the proposed changes. Many fear that the discretionary powers will be used by ministers to discourage family reunification while priority is given to providing skilled workers for the corporate sector.

Hundreds of thousands of workers needed
Businesses in need of professional and skilled employees have supported the bill, pointing to Canada's current labour shortage of more than 300,000 workers.

Immigration lawyer Joel Sandaluk told CBC News that the bill would limit parliamentary oversight of the fairness and practicality of choosing who comes to this country.

"More and more changes are going to be able to come through the system without any oversight, without any consultation, which is really important for something that deals so fundamentally with the human rights of so many people," Sandaluk says.

timu12

By 6:30 EST, we will know the result bcuz thats when the PMs vote on this bill.

Want2Move

I think it is 6:30 PM EST already, any news? I am very curious to know if the bill is passed and what changes we will see.

SinghPro

Its Passing - Liberals already said they are too scared for an election. Its all Political pandering from a bunch of gutless people. Never trust a Politician to do anything that does not help them.

timu12

i dun care as long as the bill is on my favor......

timu12

Tories survive another confidence vote, MPs vote in favour of bill C-50

The Tories survived yet another confidence vote on Monday when politicians voted in favour of a government bill that also contains controversial changes to Canada's immigration law.

Members of Parliament voted 121 to 90 in favour of bill C-50, the 2008 budget implementation act, in the House of Commons on Monday evening. The bill received third and final reading in the House.

The amendments, which are embedded in the budget bill, will give the immigration minister greater selection powers to limit the number of new immigration applicants.

"I'm absolutely delighted," Immigration Minister Diane Finley said as she left the House.

It will also allow the government to fast-track applications from the types of immigrants it wants, such as skilled workers, and freeze applications from others.

The Tories have argued the measures are necessary to reduce a backlog of more than 900,000 immigration applicants, which has created wait times of between three and six years for even those who meet all the requirements.

The Liberals' abstention Monday ensured the vote on bill C-50, a confidence motion, did not bring down Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government.

Earlier on Monday, the CBC's Rosemary Barton reported that there was debate within the Liberal caucus over the bill, but Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion didn't seem to want an election right now.

"The Liberals pride themselves on being close to immigrant communities in this country," Barton said, "but most of them also want to avoid an election. As recently as Friday there was a push inside the Liberal caucus to try and trigger an election, but it would appear the only person who's digging in his heels is Stéphane Dion."

Reluctant to face an election with opinion polls showing a lack of enthusiasm for his leadership, Dion and his party have been abstaining or not showing up for key parliamentary votes for months.

Both the Bloc Québécois and the NDP voted against the bill.
NDP tried to amend bill

Last month, NDP MP Olivia Chow tried to force the government to decouple the immigration provisions from the budget measures, but her amendment failed to pass.

Immigrant associations, refugee advocates and human rights campaigners have criticized the proposed changes. Many fear that the discretionary powers will be used by ministers to discourage family reunification while priority is given to providing skilled workers for the corporate sector.

Businesses in need of professional and skilled employees have supported the bill, pointing to Canada's current labour shortage of more than 300,000 workers.

Immigration lawyer Joel Sandaluk told CBC News that the bill would limit parliamentary oversight of the fairness and practicality of choosing who comes to this country.

"More and more changes are going to be able to come through the system without any oversight, without any consultation, which is really important for something that deals so fundamentally with the human rights of so many people," Sandaluk said.

The Liberals have called the immigration amendments an affront to Canadian values and suggested they will overturn the legislation if they win the next election.

mclauchlan35

Does anybody know when these changes are to be implemented now that they have passed the third reading?

twinsmom65

From looking at this video clip of CTV's evening news last night, it looks like Bill C-50 won't be finalized until the fall. BTW the clip is very interesting to watch for all prospective migrants trying to emigrate to Canada.

http://watch.ctv.ca/news/Redirect/?ClipId=58724

Karen

timu12

According to an artical of Toronto Stars, the minister instruction is already prepared. now Visa officers are just waiting the bill to pass Senate. as soon as it becomes law, we will find out the occupation list in demand.
gd luck all!!!!!!!!!

mclauchlan35

Do they check the principal applicants noc code only? or both applicants noc codes for skills in demand?

timu12

its still too early to tell. i think we all need to wait for the instructions which will come out soon.

Want2Move

I know we are guessing right now until the actual list is published, but do you think if the IT related occupations (systems analyst or similar types) are going to make it to the list? Thanks.

timu12

actually the best indication is to go to the provincial government websites and look for their worker shortage lists.