Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said today as he prompted the formal launch of the federal election campaign, “Canadians have a significant decision to make” about their country’s future direction.
Canada has a set federal election date and every four years Canadians have to go to the polls. This campaign will be 40 days or just over five weeks. The competing sides honed their message with a focus on the economy and the cost of living.
The upcoming campaign will last almost six weeks: half the duration of the 2015 marathon campaign, when voters suffered approximately 80 days of political leadership mudslinging – a short dash compared to U.S. elections, but a Canada marathon.
They also sharpened their assaults on Mr. Trudeau, who they claim did not live up to Canadian expectations. Although the political discussion on immigration and border safety has produced a lot of noise in recent months, it may turn out to be a dude in the 2019 national election — or it may blow up in front of the party leader who is in danger of making it a problem.
A fresh study demonstrates that the views of Canadians on immigration and refugees have hardly moved from the usually upbeat views collected over the past few years by the polling company. A majority of Canadians (58 percent) say they don’t think immigration rates are too high, while 76 percent say immigration has a favorable general effect on the Canadian economy.
The starkest divisions in Canadians’ views on immigration are found not between regions, age groups or education levels, but between supporters of the major parties themselves. While Liberals and New Democrats generally view immigration in the same positive light, Conservative voters see things very differently — though they are no longer alone on that side of the spectrum.
With the Canadian Federal elections just next month, it has never been more important to know the views of each party on immigration. Whether you’re a citizen or someone looking to enter Canada in the coming years, being informed about the immigration platforms of the parties can help you make the decision that best suits you or help inform others. Here are a few points from the platform of each party.
Liberals:
The suggested liberal policies fall predominantly within the scope of repealing the C-24 bill and opening up Canada to more refugees, particularly from the Syrian crisis. Nevertheless, they hold powerful views on the status of temporary overseas employees and share comparable views with the NDP on family reunification and settlement aid financing.
The Liberal Party intends to impose a mandatory complaint monitoring scheme, compulsory disclosure of inquiries into program abuses, compulsory disclosure of federal employer compliance reviews, monthly disclosure of the amount of temporary foreign employees, and compulsory and periodic workplace audit to avoid temporary foreign worker exploitation.
Conservatives:
A number of policies on Canadian immigration were suggested by the Conservative Party. The Conservatives are hoping to tackle the need for appropriate and equitable resources to teach immigrants and immigrant families language. With immigrants attaining functional capacity in one of the two languages of the country, the Conservatives hope it will assist with inclusion into society and the workplace. They also want to streamline the financing procedures for settlement services to build on stability and enable service providers to plan on a long-term basis.
As far as requests for admission are concerned, one of the Conservative aims is to guarantee that Citizenship and Immigration Canada is correctly staffed and resourced to enhance the processing time of apps and guarantee fair processing. In addition, they hope to reorganize the application process so that candidates can access their application data readily and verify their application status readily. The Conservatives also voiced a willingness to decrease the need for the Minister’s issuance of temporary residence permits (TRPs), hoping to do so by making the application method fairer and more effective.
NDP:
The NDP took a strong position on immigrant rights in Canada and on the scheme of temporary overseas workers. The NDP articulated primarily that the primary priority of the Canadian Immigration Policy should be family reunification. The group intends to simplify the issuance of visitor visas for individuals visiting families, drop applications for immigrants and landing fees, and enable Canadians to sponsor a relative who is not a member of the family class to come to Canada for a one-time chance. The NDP also intends to build a fast-track patronage of the family class for candidates from disaster areas.
With regard to temporary overseas employees, the NDP voiced a powerful willingness to stop their employers ‘ exploitation of them. Although the NDP also suggested prioritizing nation-building and continuous immigration, they would like to allow temporary overseas employees to be protected and secure in their working settings. The NDP wants to allow temporary overseas employees to take their instant relatives to Canada, showing the focus of their immigration platform on family reunification.