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OPEN LETTER to Immigration Minister on long processing delay

I am writing to you to echo the concerns I’ve been hearing from families who are experiencing long delays for spousal sponsorship applications and urge for your government to adjust the program to allow conditions for spouses to obtain temporary resident visas as part of the spousal sponsorship application process.
Immigration is an exercise in nation building, and I have always seen family reunification as a pivotal component of Canada’s immigration system. During the last 5 years as the NDP Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, I have heard far too many heart wrenching stories of how families are kept apart due to long delays in processing. Indeed, the issue of long delays in processing for permanent residence applications is a longstanding one and I share the concerns experienced by families who remain separated while they wait on the spousal sponsorship application process, which has worsened under COVID-19.

"The Honourable Marco Mendicino
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

10th July 2020

Dear Minister Mendicino,

I am writing to you to echo the concerns I’ve been hearing from families who are experiencing long delays for spousal sponsorship applications and urge for your government to adjust the program to allow conditions for spouses to obtain temporary resident visas as part of the spousal sponsorship application process.

Immigration is an exercise in nation building, and I have always seen family reunification as a pivotal component of Canada’s immigration system. During the last 5 years as the NDP Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, I have heard far too many heart wrenching stories of how families are kept apart due to long delays in processing. Indeed, the issue of long delays in processing for permanent residence applications is a longstanding one and I share the concerns experienced by families who remain separated while they wait on the spousal sponsorship application process, which has worsened under COVID-19.

Recent calls from many Canadians affected by these delays have asked for the creation of special temporary resident visas that would allow spouses to reunite sooner while their application is being finalized, provided that certain criteria are met. As a concrete solution to address these concerns of long separations, I am supportive of these calls. The campaign included a number of very reasonable eligibility criteria for consideration, including the requirement for the applicant to pay for COVID-19 testing, to implement self-isolation measures and to pass a criminality check. With so much thought and consideration having been put into these suggestions, it is clear that Canadians going through this process simply want to be able to be with their loved ones in a timely manner and are more than willing to work with the government to find a reasonable solution to make that happen.

It’s worth noting that this is not a new proposal. In the NDP’s supplementary report to the report tabled by CIMM in March 2017, entitled Family Reunification, I made the recommendation for the government to “provide temporary resident visas to sponsored spouses when the application has been approved in principle,” based on evidence put forward by witnesses to the committee.

Minister Mendicino, I acknowledge that processing times for spousal sponsorships have seen improvements under your government, but families are still subject to long waits. This is why I am urging you to implement these measures to facilitate the reunification of loved ones. Now more than ever, I believe the government has a responsibility to reunite spouses who are currently forced to navigate these trying times separately.

Sincerely,
Jenny Kwan
Member of Parliament for Vancouver East
NDP Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship"

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NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.), her party’s immigration critic, said the UN report should come as no surprise to the government, as it echoes “what migrant workers and labour advocates have been saying for a very long time.”


NDP MP Jenny Kwan says the power imbalance that leads to abuse is structural to the temporary foreign worker program, not just its low-wage stream. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
“The way the program is set up exposes workers to exploitation and abuse because they’re reliant on their employer to retain their status in Canada,” Kwan explained. “If they face abuse and exploitation and complain about it, they stand to lose their job, and—in the worst-case scenario—they stand to be deported back to their country of origin.”

Kwan said the government has taken a “haphazard approach” to addressing problems with the TFWP to date, focused almost solely on the low-wage stream, but—while misuse of that stream is “particularly deplorable”—she said the root of the problem is structural to the entire program.

“The government has to address the main structural issue, and that is the power imbalance that exists between the temporary foreign worker and the employer,” Kwan said. “The only way to do that is to ensure that the temporary foreign workers actually have landed status on arrival, then they are not dependent on the employer, and would not have to suffer potential abuses and exploitation.”

“It doesn’t matter what stream it is, all the temporary foreign workers programs subject migrant workers to potential exploitation because of that power imbalance,” Kwan said, adding, though, that the NDP supports calls to end the program’s low-wage stream.

While the government and groups like the Canadian Chamber of Commerce may reject the UN rapporteur’s characterization of the program, the recent Senate report found similar abuses within the program.

CBC: 'Disgusted' immigration minister looking into revoking citizenship of Toronto terror suspect

CBC: 'Disgusted' immigration minister looking into revoking citizenship of Toronto terror suspect

 

"People are rightfully furious and deeply concerned to learn that a man allegedly linked to a terrorist group and heinous terrorist acts was given Canadian citizenship by the Liberal government," she said in a statement.

"This alarming failure only adds to the concerns that Canadians already have about Canada's public safety and immigration system."

On Tuesday, a parliamentary committee agreed to investigate the case amid questions about the immigration screening process for both men.

The committee hearings, set to begin later this month, will likely zero in on Canada's immigration process, its security screening capacity and how security officials handle domestic threats.

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