MasterGeek said:
What do you think is the opinion of most Canadians ? Do you think that they support this bill ? Do they beleive that citizenship is too easy to get and prone to be used just for convenience and passport ?
I too want a good passport like the Canadian one. It's not fair that just because I was born in some shîtty country, I cannot travel or take advantage of global opportunities. Where is the equality of mankind ?
If you consider just 10 years of immigration only (say, 2000-2010), 250,000 immigrants came annually, which is 2.5 million in that decade. According to Alexander's naturalisation rate (89%), 2.23 million became citizens. Foreign-born population of Canada is 20.6% now (6.8 mil now). All of these people vividly remember the immigration process, poverty, and separation from their families. Even after they get their citizenship, they want their parents, brothers, sisters, and friends to be reunited with them, so I doubt they support any draconian measures such as revocation of citizenship etc. Alexander just made that up (he does it a lot; today he said a small minority of the Canadian Bar is opposed to the Bill, not all of them; and then he mentioned the 30k petition and said he talked to one of the people who actually was not aware of what he was signing, he was misinformed etc.)
Even I agree that the FSW model that existed for years is now rotten, and that system itself is the root of the problem. So, the immigration system HAS to change, no doubt about it.
The problem is, you can reduce processing times, for example, without getting revocation in the process. You can take steps to recognize the foreign training (but for real!), so that immigrants do not only have to work the menial jobs, although they have years of training in their fields. But no; the Cons are just using speeding up processing times as an excuse to increase their powers. I do not think they are interested in fixing the system.
The Cons' base probably like the idea of tightening the immigration rules, but very few actually understand the rules. They just listen to the Cons' words (and today you could hear that the law will REDUCE processing times, as its major feature), and they are simply manipulated into thinking whatever the cons want (they accuse the opposition of being friendly to terrorists, throw in some 'patriotic' words and historical references, and that is it, Bush's US, if you are not with us, you are against us).
In Canada, some 50% of the eligible voters do actually vote, which is around 15 million people. Foreign-born folks only make up almost 7 million. If they want to influence what is going on, they can EASILY do that.
That is why I have been trying to urge everyone to spread the word. People do not know about this bill. Alexander never gave any numbers to back up his claims that "an overwhelming majority of Canadians support the Bill." On the other hand, we already have 30+9 = almost 40k people opposed to the bill (those two petitions).
Believe me, what Lysane said is true: there is a reason why the Cons introduced the Bill in February and then left it sitting till a month before the summer break. They are scared of the opposition to the bill because they know it could throw a monkey wrench into their plans. That is why they quietly waited for months, and now they want to rush it through, and then by the end of the summer, the opposing voices will loose their steam, the dust will settle down, and they continue business as usual. (The alternative was to study the bill in detail and hear the witnesses Feb-May, which would have given the opposing voices and the media a good opportunity to make matters difficult).
And last, but not the least, it is ridiculous to claim that people like you and me support this Bill! I do NOT!
