Leaving No Opportunity Unturned

There they go, Michael Ignatieff and Maurizio Bevilacqua, high-ranking members of the Liberal Party of Canada, one of whom is still a leadership aspirant, the other highly representative of the country's immigrant community - as who isn't, in fact? - touting the responsible initiatives on behalf of immigrants their party is prepared to take, when they once again assume power.

And listen, it could happen fairly quickly, if all those close to their date of migration to the country and needful of support in migrating family members take their message seriously enough to vote Liberal. Which is, needless to say, the reason for their prompting, for their sincere promises.

Promises are always sincere at the time they're proffered; they have a way of dissipating in importance and imminence of transaction once the need for their offering has been mitigated. Election promises have a peculiar way of vanishing into the ether of unfulfilled dreams, once the election goal has been achieved.

This brace of MPs, electioneering for their party and their leader, extend to the voting public the knowledge they have that the current government has taken an anti-immigration course of action in giving new discretionary decision-making powers to the minister of immigration. Whereby he may reject "whole categories" of applications.

Which is to say, as in the highly successful Australian model, opt for majority immigrants suitable for integration into the mainstream, those endowed with a working knowledge of the language, and a good level of education ready to hit the employment circuit running.

Which would not, needless to say, close the door on other types of immigrant potential, but would close in on the type of immigrant candidates that would be most likely to fulfill the needs of the Canadian economy, and fit in most comfortably with Canadian society, sharing like cultural values. Leaving space for refugee claimants and family re-unification cases.

There is much to be said for screening applicants, since Canada has experienced in some part, the pain involved in accepting migrants whose histories are clouded, those involved in criminal or terrorist activities. Migrants from justice in their countries of origin.

Individuals whose ideologies run against the grain of Canadian norms. We have, often enough, unfortunately and unknowingly, admitted former military or political principals of administrations that have violated their populations.

We have brought into Canada individuals later identified as having taken part in the atrocities; from Germany, from Rwanda, from India, who have denied on their applications that they have a criminal past and who have later been brought to justice. Or who have taken great pains to produce terrorist activities from Canada, resulting in dreadful consequences to those whom they have targeted.

Yes, the country could use a workable strategy to make use of the skills and talents of all of its new citizens who have been trained in various professions in their home countries and who wish to continue in their trades or practises or professions here, once they qualify to Canadian standards.

But the fact is the Liberal Party has held the governing seat for a very long time and they have done nothing to ameliorate an admitted problem in that kind of integration.

They bemoan the fact that they claim has led to the current government admitting fewer immigrants to the country than formerly. While the fact is that there exists an enormous backlog of applications which does not appear to be moving expeditiously. A situation that the current government seeks to address in its alterations to the Immigration and Refugee Act.

The Conservative prime minister has taken steps to remove the hefty fees for immigration that the previous Liberal government imposed. But the writers of the Liberal party promises have put forward their plan to substantially increase funding for enhanced language training, and job-assistance programs matching applicants' qualifications.

Easier said than done, since industry and the professions have their standards that must be met and this is not a government issue. They promise that a Dion Liberal government will assist new Canadians in obtaining certification from various professional groups, and that's really good, but what's taken so long?

The Liberals have been in power an awfully long time, and nothing had been done to ameliorate the obvious shortage in Canada of some professions like medicine. They state that a Liberal government will commit to fairness, accountability and opportunity.

Most Canadians can distinctly recall a time in recent history when fairness, accountability and opportunity meant little, other than that the governing party pork barrelled their corporate sponsors and business friends, along with their political supporters and insiders.

With accountability absent, and opportunity given to the corruption of legitimate government ventures. It's tedious and dispiriting reading all those fulsome promises in the knowledge that once ensconced in the seat of power, nothing of true relevance ever comes to fruition.

Particularly through the auspices of a party so long accustomed to governing that it felt no need to exert itself to do due justice to the privileges and opportunities given them by a trusting public.