Citizenship test: Collective action required, or expect endless delays, years. Example of the effective lobbyng of people awaiting spousal sponsorship

[Canada4ever89]

Guys keep the pressure on. Don’t go for false hopes.
this group are arranging demonstrations i would recommend joining them if you possible.
https://fb.me/e/UmhHBNuJ
All I am seeing is pure false hopes. We need clear answers. And any help is appreciated and never think your efforts doesn’t count even if it is just a tweet.
They IRC. Started moving because of your efforts. Keep the good work up.

 

[piotrqc]

Our friend @Lex2019 had the following excellent thought:

I would not even call this so-so news. So, what's happening here? IRCC never denied processing citizenship applications first on "exceptional" and then "urgent" basis. Now that this is surfacing after the protests it very much resembles an attempt to calm down the general public with some sort of a vested interest, i.e. those who wait. If those posts are inspired by that logic then whatever is being tweeted, shared otherwise is an attempt to buy even more time. What I can imagine coming is Mendicino's answer when asked the same question next time would look like "well, we heroically started testing via MS Teams. I did promise to put this option on the table and this is a matter of the coming months (2? 3? 36?) when it will be available to everyone in the line" without quoting the actual numbers of tests or the fact that testing is conducted only out of emergency. The tail will once again wag the dog.

 

[Coco7]

https://ibb.co/k062whH

Our friend @Lex2019 had the following excellent thought:

https://ibb.co/k062whH

according to his timeline, he did the test on Nov 9, so this is not related to the Nov 7th protests.

 

[piotrqc]

https://ibb.co/k062whH

according to his timeline, he did the test on Nov 9, so this is

https://ibb.co/k062whH

according to his timeline, he did the test on Nov 9, so this is not related to the Nov 7th protests.

I was not talking about the 7th (which was a Saturday), but indeed the 9th ... which was the `` obligatory '' resumption date for IRCC CIC employees, under penalty of losing their usual vacation (they do not 'had no longer the possibility of abusing code 699 since November 9, precisely)

Look here :

https://www.canada.ca/en/government/publicservice/covid-19/message-chro-covid-19-other-leave-with-pay-guidance.html

 

[piotrqc]

https://www.canada.ca/en/government/publicservice/covid-19/message-chro-covid-19-other-leave-with-pay-guidance.html

To support you in these efforts, we are clarifying the guidance around the use of ‘Other Leave With Pay (699)’. This updated guidance, which will be effective November 9, 2020, emphasizes that this leave should be granted on a case-by-case basis, and only after remote or alternate work, or flexible work hours have been considered, and generally only after other relevant paid leave has first been used by the employee.

These new provisions have clearly been introduced to limit abuses related to holiday code 699 ...

I am almost SURE that this fractional resumption of tests related to urgent applicants is linked to this directive from the Secretariat of the Treasury Board of Canada ...


Unfortunately, the union did not digest this change, and immediately started legal actions ... Fortunately, this kind of action takes time, and generally does not `` suspend '' the contested decision. .

Here is the press release of the union ... People who have urgent treatments will have to savor their joy, it can stop at any time.

http://psacunion.ca/changes-699-leave-psac-take-further-legal-action

PSAC is filing a second policy grievance against Treasury Board for its most recent discriminatory changes to 699 leave that will force federal workers to exhaust all other leave – including sick leave and vacation leave – before they can request “other leave with pay” for COVID-19-related reasons.
...
Without the availability of a vaccine, and with many parts of Canada experiencing a second wave of the pandemic, Treasury Board’s proposed changes are premature and do not reflect the current reality of this public health crisis and its mental health impacts on public service workers.

 

[Lex2019]

https://ibb.co/k062whH


https://ibb.co/k062whH

according to his timeline, he did the test on Nov 9, so this is not related to the Nov 7th protests.

I'm not saying about this test specifically, I'm just trying to stress the fact that the last several days have been fruitful enough on news and tweets from IRCC that it could be a pattern. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a great fan of conspiracy theories, but having a protest first and then starting to receive "news" that is really old news and is not helping is somewhat of a strange coincidence. Secondly, neither IRCC nor the bigger government read or to that matter reply to any of what's being discussed here, on FB or Tweeter. All that is done by media agencies contracted by the government. They, I'm sure, apart from just sending the reports to the government with a summary of what's being discussed on the matter on the web they also formulate suggestions on what needs to be communicated back and how. Putting a couple of bots here, tweeting a post there it all creates some sort of a message that the government wants to deliver. Compare today's internet to 15-20 years ago when governments around the world didn't simply take internet for serious. Today it is a totally different media. And I'm not an oldie who's been just impressed by another fiction movie or a book. It is happening. I wish I was wrong sometimes, but I'm grown up enough to stop believing in Santa (my sincerest apologies to those who still do, I hereby don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings)

 

[piotrqc]

I'm not saying about this test specifically, I'm just trying to stress the fact that the last several days have been fruitful enough on news and tweets from IRCC that it could be a pattern. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a great fan of conspiracy theories, but having a protest first and then starting to receive "news" that is really old news and is not helping is somewhat of a strange coincidence. Secondly, neither IRCC nor the bigger government read or to that matter reply to any of what's being discussed here, on FB or Tweeter. All that is done by media agencies contracted by the government. They, I'm sure, apart from just sending the reports to the government with a summary of what's being discussed on the matter on the web they also formulate suggestions on what needs to be communicated back and how. Putting a couple of bots here, tweeting a post there it all creates some sort of a message that the government wants to deliver. Compare today's internet to 15-20 years ago when governments around the world didn't simply take internet for serious. Today it is a totally different media. And I'm not an oldie who's been just impressed by another fiction movie or a book. It is happening. I wish I was wrong sometimes, but I'm grown up enough to stop believing in Santa (my sincerest apologies to those who still do, I hereby don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings)

You are right. Santa, fairy tales, and the wonderful and joyful world of telletubies, where everything ends well in a walt disney happy ending unfortunately does not exist ...

The truth today is this:

http://psacunion.ca/changes-699-leave-psac-take-further-legal-action

PSAC is filing a second policy grievance against Treasury Board for its most recent discriminatory changes to 699 leave that will force federal workers to exhaust all other leave – including sick leave and vacation leave – before they can request “other leave with pay” for COVID-19-related reasons.
...
Without the availability of a vaccine, and with many parts of Canada experiencing a second wave of the pandemic, Treasury Board’s proposed changes are premature and do not reflect the current reality of this public health crisis and its mental health impacts on public service workers.

The truth is that the world is merciless for the weakest, and the right is snatched away ... If we do not claim it, no one will do it for us ... On the contrary, we will easily and abundantly find malicious and evil people to discourage us, and try to demolish us mentally, try to make us accept the fait accompli, and maintain the status quo ...

Human nature is like that, it is bad.

The equation today is very simple, we have two choices, not three:

* To make noise, and demonstrations, and to attract the attention of the media, to hope to attenuate our wait, and to oblige them at least to communicate, to establish a plan.

* Continue in passivity, and wait for years and years (Between times, the union will not hesit to claim a vaccine, a daily rate of infections of zeros ... in the world, and therefore will stretch further a few years our wait) ... And above all, take the risk that a majority conservative government overrun the wave of populism, and give us back our envelopes, cancel our requests, reimburse the fees, and change the rules to make them more difficult , retroactively ...


The choice is ours now.

 

[issteven]

when tests!!!!????

 

[hotshot45890]

The Microsoft Teams test is nothing practical. It may work for a small group of individuals but there is no way they would have the resources to have IRCC agents close out the back log with this approach. It is not practical at all and therefore nothing really has changed for all of us.

I also wonder what happened with the RFP and contract that was given to Deloitte and Accenture at the start of the pandemic (If anyone is interested in reviewing the RFP please refer to the Canada procurement site). The objective of that RFP and contract was to get support to manage the process and to support IRCC with digitizing and dealing with the pandemic. It has been 8 months and we have not seen any communication on the results. I do hope that they are not wasting our tax money on these contracts. With the WE charity scandal and the recent liberal MP story of hiring her sister in her constituency office I do worry that there is a lot of corruption with this government and I do hope they have not used the pandemic to award these contracts to just keep these consultants employed and hopefully something meaningful will come out of this (although we have not seen any results or any communication on the results).

I urge everyone to continue to engage as this is extremely important. If the recent scandals are anything to go by, if the press and the public would not engage it is very difficult to hold the government accountable. Also with the recent development with 699 code, I am sure the engagement by individuals here including protests are actually helping the treasury board to push IRCC and others back to work.

By the way there are many recent examples of press reports where IRCC screwed up, there is an article in the media and the next day IRCC approves PR or issues a visa. Doesn’t really inspire any confidence in them as someone who has an actual plan in place even after 8 months. But ofcourse they do have time to issue new invitations for new economic class immigrants to include in the backlog.

 

[deadbird]

The Microsoft Teams test is nothing practical. It may work for a small group of individuals but there is no way they would have the resources to have IRCC agents close out the back log with this approach. It is not practical at all and therefore nothing really has changed for all of us.

I also wonder what happened with the RFP and contract that was given to Deloitte and Accenture at the start of the pandemic (If anyone is interested in reviewing the RFP please refer to the Canada procurement site). The objective of that RFP and contract was to get support to manage the process and to support IRCC with digitizing and dealing with the pandemic. It has been 8 months and we have not seen any communication on the results. I do hope that they are not wasting our tax money on these contracts. With the WE charity scandal and the recent liberal MP story of hiring her sister in her constituency office I do worry that there is a lot of corruption with this government and I do hope they have not used the pandemic to award these contracts to just keep these consultants employed and hopefully something meaningful will come out of this (although we have not seen any results or any communication on the results).

I urge everyone to continue to engage as this is extremely important. If the recent scandals are anything to go by, if the press and the public would not engage it is very difficult to hold the government accountable. Also with the recent development with 699 code, I am sure the engagement by individuals here including protests are actually helping the treasury board to push IRCC and others back to work.

By the way there are many recent examples of press reports where IRCC screwed up, there is an article in the media and the next day IRCC approves PR or issues a visa. Doesn’t really inspire any confidence in them as someone who has an actual plan in place even after 8 months. But ofcourse they do have time to issue new invitations for new economic class immigrants to include in the backlog.

Many good points. I encourage everyone to read @hotshot45890 's post carefully.

 

[piotrqc]

Many good points. I encourage everyone to read @hotshot45890 's post carefully.

Our friend @hotshot45890 is right, and things are indeed going in that direction ... People (for the most part) are not stupid, and remain determined, and there will be a demonstration in front of the parliament in Ottawa very soon.

Hopefully it will make more media noise than the first two simultaneous demonstrations in Toronto and Montreal the last time.

As I have said several times here, the spousal sponsors are the best example that we have: They make noise again and again, ,and again to hope to have answers, or beginnings of action on the part of IRCC. ... Believe it or not, even after getting what they wanted (Resumption of processing of their requests), the spousal sponsors continue to organize sporadically, until today, demonstrations in several Canadian cities ... Their perseverance must be an example for all of us! ...

I remind for all practical purposes that Canada is a democracy, and that, for example, there is no policeman who will hit you with a baton, and that no retaliation will be made on your personal applications if you take action to demand the resumption of citizenship tests, whether contacting your local federal deputy, contacting IRCC CIC by phone regularly, or by the electronic form, flood their official pages on social networks with questions about our problem, or even go out in a peaceful demonstration, authorized, and respecting the sanitary rules. You will not risk anything .... The only thing you risk, but by remaining passive, is to extend the deadlines by a few more years.

Unfortunately the administrators here have gone back to systematically suppressing all messages giving details of the next action in Ottawa, but it is fairly easy to find information. Especially since they are the same organizers as the last time ...

Don't let go of the pressure, folks!

, Piotr.

 

[ipmonty]

I did my part. sent a tweet to the government today.

Please retweet if you are active on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1328991553336061953

 

[sarafandee]

Someone should try winning the lotto, and then use the money to help all those 65k applicants file lawsuits against IRCC.

 

[Flandernss]

Someone should try winning the lotto, and then use the money to help all those 65k applicants file lawsuits against IRCC.

File a lawsuit against all politicians and media talking heads who say "Canadians first" too. Quite frankly, in Europe, such a thing would be regarded as outright racist.

 

[sarafandee]

https://www.facebook.com/423596921055456/posts/3569033486511768

They want to impose french test for those applying to citizenship in Quebec.