Latvian

Which party is more pro-immigrant Conservative or Liberal?

iaink

???? I dont think it registers very high on the radar for either frankly.

Liberals want immigrants to come and vote for them
Conservatives want immigrants to come for commercial exploitation.


Sorry, do I sound cynical?

Why do you care out of curiosity?

dbd33

Liberal.

iaink

Yeah, I suppose at least with the Liberals there will still be some social programs left for those on low incomes. NDP is probably the most pro immigration and I suspect they will hold the balance of power whoever gets the most votes this time around.

Butch Cassidy

Depends on the colour of your skin and you country of origin. :scared:

JAJ

If that's the case then why are there such backlogs in processing?

Andrew Miller

Good observation Jeremy,

Liberals are exploiting immigration issues during every election or election scare since 1993 solely for the purpose of keeping voters who have vested interest in immigration. Pleasing potential voters with pass mark reduction to 67 points resulted in current backlog which is already 2.5 times larger than it was when IRPA was approved by Parliament in 2001.

NDP will try to get those voters (including of course immigrants) who rely on social programs as party's platform is rather socialist. The best picture of what NDP can do to economy you'll find in quite recent history of British Columbia, when NDP after coming to power here turned BC's economy from one of the strongest in Canada to the weakest one and forced thousands of businesses (read employers) to move jobs from BC to Alberta and Washington State. Now, after few years of NDP almost completely gone from BC legislature BC's economy is again the strongest in Canada with the highest jobs creation and economical growth. Want another Cuban like economy in Canada then vote NDP. And please don't confuse BC Liberals with federal Liberal party platform - BC Liberals are so far rather conservative and pro-business and that resulted in quick fix of economy previously ruined by NDP and their bosses in labour unions.

Conservatives were never against immigration, despite what Liberal ads may claim now.

In my opinion immigrants should be interested in strong economy and jobs creation, not in social programs. Those who prefer social programs obviously didn't learn from history of socialist countries or don't know anything about not so distant problems created by NDP in British Columbia.

Both Liberals and Conservatives are more into market creation of jobs versus government creation of jobs like NDP - thus if you want real jobs and strong economy then NDP is not your choice. As recent BC's history demonstrates socialist approach to economy destroys it - NDP created tens of thousands of government jobs, while at the same time ruined non-government companies and finally ended in huge deficit as there were no taxes coming to pay salaries for those government jobs and pension plans.

LIberals or Conservatives? Who you trust more? I would rather give a chance to new Conservatives than leave the status quo. But it is just me.

iaink

Because thats due to administration of the policy, not the policy itself.

As the policy is now, immigration is open to the great unwashed masses of family members of existing immigrants, they just have to waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttt to get in.

I wonder if the more right of center conservatives will be as welcoming to unskilled labour? Somehow I doubt it.

Whoever wins will have to address the mechanics of the situation as the waiting list is counterproductive to the whole point of skilled immigration, which should be getting people here to support the economy in a timely manner. Closing the door to all but the most skilled may speed up processing times and help those select few still eligable to apply, but I dont know that its "immigration friendly" on a wider scale.

Wouldnt trust any politician further than I could throw him. Id' rather stick with the devil I know, Harper gives me the willies, his willingness to throw canada into Iraq at the time the liberal administration said it was illegal and kept well out of it make me question his judgment, and his personal views on subjects like same sex union make me question his capacity to empathise with anyone who doesnt share his world view.

JAJ

Isn't it due to the fact that criteria are set in such a way that more people are 'eligible' to apply than there are visas available? And hence the queues just get longer and longer.

If a government decides to leave the number of immigrants unchanged, but sets realistic criteria and perhaps decides to change the composition of the immigrant intake, that is neither immigrant 'friendly' or 'unfriendly'.

And I believe that CIC figures do prove the last Conservative government was accepting immigrants into Canada and allowing them to become citizens too.

The conservative administration in Australia has quite a large legal immigrant program, but the profile of immigrants has changed a lot since 1996. They tend to be a lot younger, with better English and more skills that are recognised in Australia. Parent migration has been restricted to those with at least half their children in Australia (not just one) and parents are expected to make a one-off contribution towards future health costs.

The upside of all this - waiting times for the major visas are all within 12 months and skilled migrants have much better employment prospects than before. And far from being a vote loser, the change in immigration focus has been popular among the Australian community.


Jeremy

dscottie

Trouble with the current "Conservative" party is that they appear more old Reform/Canadian Alliance than Conservative - comments like this do them no favours:

“Immigrants are choking welfare systems, contributing to high unemployment, and many cannot read.” - Conservative MP Art Hanger

JAJ

There is nothing inherently unreasonable about requiring a waiting period before 'skilled' migrants can claim welfare.



Jeremy

Andrew Miller

You obviously follow the lead of some negative ads paid by Liberals instead of following all information that is out there, for example you must have missed this one:

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canadavotes2...migration.html

Calgal

I'm with you Iain, and besides; aren't the new 'conservatives' really Reform in disguise?!

Better the devil you know may well be the way to go. Though I still haven't made up my mind yet. Harper gives me the willies, too!

dscottie

I did see that. A day before, the Liberals also made the pledge to abolish the landing fee completely over a period of three years.

What disturbs me is that there are people like Mr Hanger in the Conservative ranks that obviously take a dim view of immigration. Regarding the quote, I don't quite see how most immigrants can "choke the welfare system" since their sponsor has to take financial responsibility for them anyway.

Andrew Miller

Unfortunately responsibility is mostly on paper and only when sponsoring - in Greater Vancouver alone there were last year over 4,000 cases of sponsors in default being taken to court by Province who pays welfare to their sponsored parents. It was quite well exposed in Vancouver newspapers but only for few days and then everyone forgot about it. I can bet you that numbers are quite similar in other Provinces too.