Jason Kenney

Minister - Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism

Why Kenney might consider this report!

[Last year (2010), Canada received 281,000 immigrants - the highest number since 1957. In addition, 182,000 TFWs arrived, with the ones already in country - by the year end there were 283,000 foreign workers in Canada. There were 218,000 foreign students here too - and most of the temporary workers and students will remain permanently. There is also a massive backlog of over 1 million immigrants waiting to enter - who have met all of the entry requirements.]

Here is an extract of what someone of authority say

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Immigration isn't as beneficial as politicians claim

By James Bissett | Calgary Herald | May 20, 2011



" Immigration has had a powerful impact on our political system. All of the political parties favour large-scale immigration. Every immigrant is seen by them as a potential voter for their party. The politicians justify high immigration levels by claiming immigration is desperately needed to sustain our economic growth, enhance our labour force and combat our so-called aging problem.



It is significant that of the 281,000 immigrants who arrived in 2010, only 17% [or 48,800] were skilled workers selected for their potential contribution to our labour force. The remainder were spouses and children accompanying them, relatives sponsored by people already in Canada, immigrants sponsored by the provinces, refugees or others accepted for humanitarian reasons -- So much for Helping our Economy or Labour Force!



Studies in Canada since the MacDonald Royal Commission Report of 1985 and the Economic Council of Canada's studies in the early 1990s concluded that immigration was not necessary for economic prosperity. In 2003, Prof. Alan Green of Queen's University released a study that argued that while immigration had been useful in the past, the economic argument for it had largely disappeared and that the current political posture of using immigration to solve economic problems was no longer valid.



In 2008, Prof. Herb Grubel of Simon Fraser University, in a landmark study, showed that the 2.5 million immigrants who had come to Canada from 1990 to 2002 had received in benefits and services in one year (2002) $18.3 billion more than they had paid in taxes. That amount was more than the federal government spent on health care and twice what was spent on defence in fiscal 2000-2001.



Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, our political parties repeatedly advocate raising our immigration levels, and do so, as they did in 2008, regardless of economic down turn. The name of the game is to get more numbers, because numbers are seen as voters.



In fact, the pressure to increase immigration has become such an overwhelming obsession with politicians that our overseas visa officers do not have time to interview prospective immigrants and the vast majority are no longer seen or interviewed.



The assessment of qualifications is done by reviewing documentation and the visas are issued by mail. Is there an employer in Canada who would hire someone without a personal interview? Immigration is a critical public policy issue. The kind of Canada we will be in the future depends on the policies we follow today.



This is wrong. If through mass immigration, the traditional society of a nation is in danger of becoming marginalized, then surely it should be done as a deliberate and open policy objective of government - and not driven by politicians competing desperately for ethnic votes. We must not allow our politicians to use it as a political game that patronizes the immigrants and damages our national interest.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Qorax

There is already a strong undercurrent in the street against the country's immigration policies. And with the last 'boat-load', public opinion has taken a strong nose-dive. Nearly everyone now questions the Canadian magnanimity...Conservatives had always advocated 'containment' of the immigrants influx... did all they could [eg. the 29 list for FSW, reduction in the FC quotas etc.] - but, had to play along with their NDP friends... But now? When the market folks have given them the heads-up, will they thus go all out?That was James Bissett - and mind u there r others. Jason Kenney remains in this hot-seat [& promoted too] to ensure that the program/s initiated by the Conservatives go further-fold. The CIC website had already expressed what to expect in the near future, post 26/6/10. It'd be thus interesting to see what comes out of 'the plan' around Jul 2011. We should expect some dramatic changes...