Tories worried about base finding out how much they spend helping immigrants
STEPHANIE LEVITZ
OTTAWA — The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, Mar. 10 2015, 5:23 AM EDT
A note which appears to have been prepared for Costas Menegakis, the parliamentary secretary for immigration, says the party’s base will learn as a result that the government spends close to $1-billion a year on those efforts.
The note says the other risk of undertaking such a study is that the government’s relationship with Quebec may surface as an issue.
And while the study only began last month and the committee has only just started hearing from witnesses, the briefing note also lays out five recommendations for the eventual report.
A copy of the note was obtained by The Canadian Press.
Menegakis’ office declined to comment specifically on the note’s contents.
“Committee members are masters of their own proceedings,” said an e-mailed statement. “As always, we look forward to hearing testimony from all witnesses.”
Liberal MP John McCallum, who sits on the committee, called it “chilling” to see the reference to the party’s base in the document.
“It’s as if they are concerned their own supporters would be aghast at the idea of spending money to help settle immigrants,” McCallum said in an interview.
“It’s good not only for the immigrants, it’s good for the country if the newcomers settle quickly and work and not be receiving welfare and become productive Canadians.”
The Conservatives credit much of their electoral success in recent years to the inroads the party has made among new Canadians. They’ve also massively overhauled the immigration system which they’ve said is partially motivated by concerns raised from within the newcomer community.
Part of the overhaul has been shifting the focus to so-called economic class immigrants, those coming to Canada for work purposes.
The briefing note suggests, among other things, that employers ought to be more engaged in the settlement process.
But it’s clear what those witnesses say doesn’t matter, said Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, the NDP’s immigration critic and also a member of the committee.
“They already have their lines, and whatever the witnesses are bringing to the table, they already want to go forward with certain things,” she said.
“That’s not my view about what should be the work of a committee.”
The committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday morning.
![But, Minister, If You Choose Immigrants So Carefully, Why Are We Spending $600-million Outside Quebec, on "Immigrant Settlement"?
A press release today (January 29, 2015) from the office of Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander enthuses:
"The government has significantly increased funding for newcomer settlement services in jurisdictions outside of Quebec, from less than $200 million in 2005-06 to almost $600 million in 2014-15.
More than 700 service provider organizations across Canada receive funds dedicated to helping newcomers adjust to life in Canada.
The government is committed to ensuring that newcomers integrate and contribute fully to the Canadian economy, and to their communities, as soon as possible."
So, excluding Quebec, the Dominion Government spends $600-million a year -- three times the sum when it took office --on "immigrant settlement ... ensuring that newcomers integrate and contribute fully to the Canadian economy and their communities." These programmes are a racket, often staffed by ethnic community power brokers. They deliver such programmes as ESL, job search help, and employment preparation.
Here's a question: "If immigrants were more carefully selected as to language, needed job skills, and cultural compatibility, could this $600 annual expenditure (In English Canada alone) be avoided?"
Immigration not only costs unemployed Canadians jobs and job opportunities and suppresses wages, but. as Herb Grubel and Patrick Kelly have demonstrated in a study for the Fraser Institute [Immigration and the Canadian Welfare State, 2011] , the poorly selected immigrant cohort from 1986 to 2004, costs the Canadian taxpayers $25-billion annually! That figure comes from calculating what these immigrants contribute to the pot in taxes at all levels and subtracting what they take from the tax pot in terms of services, medicare, welfare, public housing, etc.
Paul Fromm
Director
CANADA FIRST IMMIGRATION REFORM COMMITTEE](https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/p235x350/10943744_417882721711307_4880228387383262412_n.jpg?oh=cd991f3432e5fad68d93939c648d419c&oe=555AD4A1)