Canada’s Conservative government said on Friday that it plans to fast-track the immigration process for skilled workers in high-demand occupations, drawing criticism from the country’s opposition leaders that the new rules are unfair.
Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said applications for immigrants in occupations such as health, skilled trades, finance, and resource extraction will be processed within six to 12 months compared with up to six years under the old system. Geochemists, speech language pathologists, university professors, plumbers and chefs would also be fast-tracked.
The minister also said that Canada will maintain its immigration levels, while countries like the United Kingdom and Australia are cutting back.
“The recent steps this government has taken to improve our immigration system will help ensure that Canada remains competitive internationally and responsive to labor market needs domestically,” Kenney said.
Opposition leaders argued the changes would create two classes of immigrants, leaving less-skilled workers stuck at the back of the line.
New Democrat immigration critic Olivia Chow called the government’s classification of high-demand jobs absurd.
“One on the list is financial services. Didn’t I just notice that there’s a huge number of people being laid off in the financial services?” Chow asked.
Chow also criticized the government’s plan to double the number of temporary foreign workers in five years, saying such a move would drive down wages.
“It’s bad for the Canadian economy and it’s bad for [the workers], because they cannot bring in their families and often are open to exploitation and abuse,” Chow said.
The Liberals drew parallels between the current reforms and an effort by the Conservative government of the 1950s to favor skilled workers — a move that created a rift between the government and some ethnic communities. The government of the time eventually backed away from those reforms.
Friday’s announcement came on the same day Canada’s opposition parties also criticized the Conservative government for failing to do enough to rescue the economy from the impacts of the global economic crisis. The parties are grappling with the idea of toppling the Conservative government and forming a coalition government.
The Liberals said they are considering introducing a motion tomorrow declaring no confidence in the minority Conservative government and proposing a governing coalition.
ANGER: A video shared online showed residents in a neighborhood confronting the national security minister, attempting to drag her toward floodwaters Argentina’s port city of Bahia Blanca has been “destroyed” after being pummeled by a year’s worth of rain in a matter of hours, killing 13 and driving hundreds from their homes, authorities said on Saturday. Two young girls — reportedly aged four and one — were missing after possibly being swept away by floodwaters in the wake of Friday’s storm. The deluge left hospital rooms underwater, turned neighborhoods into islands and cut electricity to swaths of the city. Argentine Minister of National Security Patricia Bullrich said Bahia Blanca was “destroyed.” The death toll rose to 13 on Saturday, up from 10 on Friday, authorities
RARE EVENT: While some cultures have a negative view of eclipses, others see them as a chance to show how people can work together, a scientist said Stargazers across a swathe of the world marveled at a dramatic red “Blood Moon” during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of yesterday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the moon glowed a reddish color. This is because the
DEBT BREAK: Friedrich Merz has vowed to do ‘whatever it takes’ to free up more money for defense and infrastructure at a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty Germany’s likely next leader Friedrich Merz was set yesterday to defend his unprecedented plans to massively ramp up defense and infrastructure spending in the Bundestag as lawmakers begin debating the proposals. Merz unveiled the plans last week, vowing his center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) — in talks to form a coalition after last month’s elections — would quickly push them through before the end of the current legislature. Fraying Europe-US ties under US President Donald Trump have fueled calls for Germany, long dependent on the US security umbrella, to quickly
Local officials from Russia’s ruling party have caused controversy by presenting mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine with gifts of meat grinders, an appliance widely used to describe Russia’s brutal tactics on the front line. The United Russia party in the northern Murmansk region posted photographs on social media showing officials smiling as they visited bereaved mothers with gifts of flowers and boxed meat grinders for International Women’s Day on Saturday, which is widely celebrated in Russia. The post included a message thanking the “dear moms” for their “strength of spirit and the love you put into bringing up your sons.” It
RSS