Here is an excerpt from discussion going on LinkedIn regarding slashing of backlog. A opinion from Lawyer Tim Leahy : While you may well be correct in stating that the initial intention was not "mean", that is not the point. The question is: Should CIC accept responsibility for its own misconduct or should it further victimize the gullible who believed that that the Government of Canada is honest? In your scenario, it is fine to mislead and cheat people so long as the purpose was not "mean to begin with". Was the chap who robbed the bank being mean when he did so? If not, he should be allowed to keep the money he stole, right? Here CIC stoles years of people's lives.
There is no question that Kenney is not to blame for the "inventory" CIC allowed to build up before his watch. The CHC at London told me in October 2004 that it was receiving on average 1.5 new files for everyone one it closed and, thus, would be extending processing times by one month every two months. The same oversupply was occurring in other visa posts. So, why didn't CIC dial back intake by (a) limiting occupations or (b) raising the pass-mark? Had they done so, fewer people would have applied, and they could have brought supply into sync with production.
However, the more files they had in their inventory, the more secure were their jobs. After all, how can you cut back on staff when there are so many files to process? Why reduce intake of processing fees when the Government is receiving 167% of the actual cost of the service (assuming that it may ever be provided)?
As for your five-year-old file issue, you should know that SOP is to request updated forms and documents whenever the file has been pending for over one year. So, all that you need to do is have a clerk order an update four months before the number comes up. Very easy to do. No need to hire a bunch more people in Sydney, NS to do what the local staff have been doing for years -- unless, of course, you have some cousins in need of nice cushy jobs.
And, as for the claim that the experience of the earlier applicants does not square with Canada's labour demands, CIC's studies show that only 36% of immigrants pursue their intended occupations. So, what's the issue? And, besides, how many of the doctors they're bringing will ever practice medicine? In Ontario, 7,500 foreign-trained physicians have passed all the requirements to practice except for the residency requirement, for which there are only 368 openings per year. But, we're still poaching MD's from developing countries. Down right immoral.
