I agree with regg4791 that, just like Canadian citizens, we as PRs are protected by the Canadian laws against injustice or discrimination. However, unlike citizens, we don't put these laws to serve our interests. So, for example, we can't pass a law that requires citizenship officers to reach a decision on our applications within a reasonable span of time (e.g., 6 months), or provide a clear and reasonable justification for the delay that can be challenged in courts of law, whereas citizens can do that for the matters important to them.
The irony here is that once PRs become citizens, they don't care anymore about the citizenship process unless they have a relative or a friend waiting in the line. In fact, many newly naturalized Canadians become quite reluctant to easing the process because they think this undermines the value of the Canadian citizenship (which they think of as a costly investment they made). Therefore, PRs will always remain powerless and at the mercy of a lousy system. This is just the nature of things. The most likely reply you'll hear if you try to raise this issue publically is: "You are still an alien, so you don't have the right to tell us how to treat the citizenship applicants. If you don't like our system, find yourself another country".
The immigration system is, understandably, designed in a way that gives the upper hand to the Canadian authorities and no power at all to the immigrant. The immigration application you submitted is, in fact, a 'supplication' rather than a binding agreement between two equal parties. No promise is made that the process will end in you becoming a citizen within a specific horizon, or at all. You can be deported, at their full discretion, at any moment by an administrative order with no need for a court ruling. Until you become a Canadian citizen, you are just an alien resident that live by the rules they put for you.
