Chris Alexander: Fixing immigration and fixing the economy are two sides of the same coin

Number of suggestions by former immigration minister Alexander. First set, government already moving in that direction. Others are more difficult and or controversial to implement. While the government is committed to a Ukrainian victory (but our role minor compared to USA), not clear what other sanctions against Iran remain to be implemented, or which ones he proposes for Pakistan (Alexander has been consistent, and rightly so, on Pakistan’s counterproductive role in Afghanistan).

While we can all agree on the need to increase unity and trust, the devil is in the details and there are no easy solutions apart from better and clearer messaging by political and other leaders:

…First, set immigration levels between 300,000 and 400,000—targeting the lower end so long as our economy struggles and apportioning economic immigrants roughly equally among Skilled Worker, Canadian Experience, and Provincial Nominee programmes. In future, immigration levels should be driven by our prospects for economic growth and the availability of basic services like health care and housing. But there is no substitute for decent, clear-eyed political judgement on these issues.

Second, end access for low-skilled temporary foreign workers, a subsidy for uncompetitive businesses and, as the prime minister recently put it, “big chain corporations.” Skilled workers may still be needed in selected fields, but the system needs to be tight and well-managed, not a morass of abuse and ad-hockery.

Third, process 260,000 asylum claims fast. The law requires hearings within 60 days; currently, they take over three years. The Immigration and Refugee Board needs to staff up and burn the midnight oil to take this backlog back below 10,000, where it was in 2015. To prevent new backlogs, our visa requirements should be de-politicized: citizens of countries that do not meet our existing criteria for lifting visa requirements should be required to have them. Our current government undermined these criteria, notably in the case of Mexico, with predictable consequences.

We also need to come to grips with the number of people now in Canada without any immigration status, which has ballooned, and ensure such cases are resolved via existing programmes, including the humanitarian and compassionate stream, or through the asylum system. People should not be left in limbo or the shadows.

Fourth, lift current caps for international students so our best institutions of higher education are not punished for our current government’s missteps and implement a hard-edged strategy to end fraud and “fake colleges” and restore Canada’s merit-based reputation.

Fifth, a new government should think creatively about the world’s refugee crises. By April 2024, about 120 million persons were forcibly displaced worldwide—nearly twice the 2014 figure. About 43 million are refugees. Our generous refugee programmes failed to reverse these horrendous trends. Why? Because the dictators responsible for wars, genocides and repression in the Sahel, Middle East, South Asia, and Ukraine have gone unpunished.

Source: Chris Alexander: Fixing immigration and fixing the economy are two sides of the same coin