“In his announcement today, the Minister failed to acknowledge the real reason why Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada quietly stopped the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Through an Access to Information and Privacy request, it was revealed that “These reductions are due to admissions space required to accommodate the Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident stream and the resettlement of Afghan nationals to Canada.”
The truth is the Liberal government failed to listen to calls from the NDP and those affected by these delays to ensure adequate staffing and immigration levels are available to meet the announcement of these two new immigration measures.
The lack of transparency and communication from this government is appalling and an insult to the people who are trying to balance important life decisions around possible outcomes of their applications. It should not take an Access to Information request for those aspiring to come to Canada to learn the truth about the processing delays.
Globe & Mail: PMO won’t say if Carney spoke with Modi about India’s alleged role in killing of Canadian Sikh leader
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says Ottawa continues to have “difficult conversations” with New Delhi about the 2023 killing of a Canadian Sikh leader, but the Prime Minister’s Office has declined to say if the matter was raised earlier this week in talks between Mark Carney and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi.
Mr. Carney ducked a question Tuesday about whether he and Mr. Modi had discussed the killing of the Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, during a one-on-one meeting that day at the G7 leaders’ summit in Kananaskis, Alta.
The Globe and Mail pressed the PMO on Wednesday about whether Mr. Nijjar’s slaying and Indian foreign interference were part of the discussions. Sikh organizations and human-rights activists have also sought clarification on what was discussed.
Mr. Carney’s press secretary, Audrey Champoux, would not comment on Wednesday. She referred The Globe to a statement the two leaders released Tuesday: “Prime Minister Carney raised priorities on the G7 agenda, including transnational crime and repression, security, and the rules-based order.”
After the meeting, the two leaders announced that they would designate new high commissioners and restore regular diplomatic services to citizens in both countries.
Bilateral relations went into a deep freeze in 2024, after then-prime minister Justin Trudeau and the RCMP said there was evidence linking agents of the Modi government to Mr. Nijjar’s slaying.
Canada expelled the Indian high commissioner and five other diplomats over the killing. India denied any role and responded with similar diplomatic expulsions.
NDP MP Jenny Kwan, an outspoken human-rights activist, said in a June 17 letter to Mr. Carney that re-establishing diplomatic normalcy with India when it has yet to account for its role in the death of Mr. Nijjar “sends a deeply painful message to Sikh Canadians who continue to live under threat.”
Major Sikh organizations and human-rights advocates also wrote a separate letter to Mr. Carney on Tuesday, saying the Nijjar killing was part of a co-ordinated campaign of transnational repression that “continues to violate Canadian sovereignty.”