The Conservatives are still in power and they have a majority which is enough to pass laws even if the opposition objects. As much as people are excited about the Liberals, I don't think much will change. For one, I can't see any party wanting to change this new Citizenship Law(eventhough if they promise that during the campaign) - they will not want to be accused of "weakening" Canadian citizenship. On the political side, they can always say, "see, they(Cons) are the ones who passed this Bill, we didn't", blah blah blah.
Also, I was in Canada when the Liberals were in power(Paul Martin) and here is what I remember:
1. there was a backlog of federal skilled worker applications
2. skilled worker program was like a two-step process - a) you send just the application forms b) if you pass eligibility, they send request for the supporting documents. Some people waited years to get to step #2.
3. foreign students could not work off-campus until after graduation.
4. after graduation they had 60 days(later changed to 90 days) to find work related to their field of studies or return home.
5. if they found work, they had to go through the LMO process (there was no post-graduate work permit)
6. immigration application fees I think was more than $550.
It has taken me a long long time to get to citizenship because of the laws they had in place which they claimed to be "working on changing them" but never did.
Here's what the Cons did since they came into power in I think 2008:
7. created the off-campus work permit for foreign students, to ensure students don't have to stop working as they wait for the post-graduate work permit(PGWP)to arrive.
8. created PGWP for foreign students, so they can work and immigrate to Canada permanently(since they would have adapted to Canadian life and have Canadian work experience)
9. reduced the applications fees to $550
10. created the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) specifically for students graduating from Canadian schools and for foreign workers
11. created accelerated LMO process
12. students did not need to find work only in their field of studies in order to immigrate (it just had to be skilled work in any field)
13. the CEC program has helped many people immigrate in a shorter time (some as early as after 2 yrs of being in Canada). This would never have happened under the Liberal gov't back in the days.
14. legislating the backlog - this is a mixed bag. It was not a good outcome for many people but if you look at the principle behind it, the gov't was adjusting to changing labor market needs. We don't need many more foreign doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, etc driving taxis or cleaning buildings.
15. the citizenship bill - one can say this is a mixed bag as well. There are good parts of the Bill but the "intent to reside" clause is not the one that is most worrisome in my opinion. I think the worst part is the power it gives the Minister to strip people off their citizenship if they are convicted of certain crimes abroad. I'm sure we have heard of countries with dictators who arrest and convict people falsely. It won't be fair for someone to loose their citizenship based on such bogus convictions, which is why I still believe Judges should be the only person involved when it comes to revocation of citizenship.
So overall, as you can see, most people who have had the opportunity to experience life under a previous gov't would likely still vote Cons, especially on immigration matters. Overall, when it comes to immigration, my experience has been better under the Cons. I don't know who I will vote for(once I can) but I won't be rushing to the Liberals just because of Bill C-34.
