By R. Paul Dhillon, The Link, Feb. 20 2011

Indo-Canadian hoping to sponsor parents or grandparents will only get 2,500 visas this year, down 45 per cent from 4,500 in 2010. With the election coming, immigrant voters need to send a message to Harper Conservatives that they have had enough with their under-handed anti-immigrant policies, say immigrant groups.

OTTAWA – Despite assuring Parliament in November that admissions in the parents and grandparents visa category would remain stable in 2011, revised targets show that Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is planning on slashing parent and grandparent visas by more than 25% next year, Liberal MPs said Thursday.

“Mr. Kenney can’t explain why his department’s internal targets seem to be significantly different than the ranges he tabled with Parliament in November,” said Liberal Immigration Critic Justin Trudeau. “This is now a matter of Mr. Kenney’s credibility.”

Indo-Canadian hoping to sponsor parents or grandparents will only get 2,500 visas this year, down 45 per cent from 4,500 in 2010.

With the election coming, immigrant voters need to send a message to Prime Minister Stephen Harper , “heartless minister” Kenney and their immigrant allergic Conservative party that they have had enough with their under-handed anti-immigrant policies, say immigrant groups.

Kenney’s defence that internal targets recently released under the Access to Information Act are inaccurate because they don’t reflect “in Canada” visas was undermined when, during his appearance at Committee, the Minister confirmed that none of the parent and grandparent visas were “in Canada” visas last year.

“We are very concerned that these reduced targets will significantly lengthen wait times for family reunification that are already completely unacceptable,” said Trudeau.

“In 2005, the previous Liberal government allocated tens of millions of dollars of additional funds to process parent and grandparent applications and increased the target for this category to 18,000, but the Conservative government has decided that this class of immigration doesn’t provide enough value to Canada to maintain.”

In the Department of Citizenship and Immigration’s Annual Report to Parliament last fall it was stated that, “in the Family Class, spouses, partners and children admissions are expected to return to historical levels for 2011, while admissions in the parents and grandparents category are expected to remain stable.”

But internal revised targets set in January of this year tell a very different story.  Although in 2009 more than 17,000 parent and grandparent visas were issued and more than 15,000 in 2010, revised internal targets suggest only 11,200 such visas will be issued in 2011. This is a 25% cut from 2010 levels and a 34% cut from 2009 levels.

“Family reunification is an essential part of attracting the best and brightest from around the globe and to building the kind of Canada we want,” said Liberal Multiculturalism Critic Rob Oliphant.  “Not only is this a major factor in attracting skilled workers, but it provides them with added supports like family involvement in early learning and child care to ensure their success.”

“Immigrants in the application queue are waiting longer than ever before to be reunited with their spouses, parents or children in Canada,” said New Democrat Immigration Critic, Olivia Chow (Trinity–Spadina). “I’m asking Jason Kenney to show some compassion and some heart, and do something to shorten the processing times.”

Amir Attaran, a professor of law and medicine at the University of Ottawa, has filed a human rights complaint against the Conservative government because of a 60-month delay in processing his parents’ immigration application.

“For a government that talks so much about family values, the Conservatives have the worst record of any government in reuniting immigrants with their families,” said Attaran.