OTTAWA: The Canadian government is sending clear signals that it is tightening its immigration and refugee system to reduce the number of claimants who are granted entry to this country, critics say.

The government recently fired Peter Showler, head of the Immigration and Refugee Board. Showler advocated a new appeals system for refugees who had been denied admission to Canada.

Immigration Minister Denis Coderre, who was appointed earlier this year to replace a minister who was accused by opponents of the system of being “soft” on refugee claimants, says the appeal system is “delayed” indefinitely.

Showler’s firing came as the prominent right-wing think tank, the Fraser Institute, issued a report that argues large-scale immigration plays “at best” a minor role in Canada’s economic growth. The report was heavily quoted in the country’s mainstream media, but was denounced by groups that represent immigrants.

There was no official government reaction to the report. Coderre has recently said his department is looking for skilled and professional immigrants, but wants them to move to rural Canada.

The Fraser Institute report, written by Martin Collacott, former Canadian high commissioner to Sri Lanka, calls for a review of Canada’s immigration policy.

Collacott argues that open immigration policies are undermining Canada’s ability to remain a tolerant multiracial society, and are only justified by the Liberal government on the basis they help the economy and offset the negative impact of an aging population.

The report perpetuates the myth that newcomers to the country are a drain on public coffers, says Hadassah Ksienski, chief executive of the Calgary Immigrant Aid Society.

Ksienski says she doesn’t understand why the report takes aim at the family class of refugees — those who have parents, siblings, children, uncles and aunts to help them once they arrive in the country.

“There has been a dramatic reduction in the number of family class immigrants and an increase in those who come as independents,” said Ksienski, adding that family class immigrants tend to access fewer social programmes than other immigrants because they have a ready-made support system.

University of Calgary associate sociology professor Lloyd Wong challenged Collacott’s findings that immigrants are a drain on the country.

He cites a study showing the amount of income tax paid by immigrants exceeds the social assistance and unemployment benefits they receive.

Critics of the system say that unless an immigrant has industrial skills the government wants, it’s becoming more difficult to come to Canada.

There is a backlog of 700,000 people waiting to enter Canada. Budget cuts in the mid-1990s hit the immigration department hard and bureaucrats are only just beginning to make a dent in the piles of files that built up in the last few years.

A parliamentary study this year of Canada’s immigration processing system found that other pressures, such as visitor and student visa applications, have made immigration applications a low priority.

Immigration officials admit the quick turnaround for visitors and temporary workers is at the expense of immigrant files.

The backlog is highly concentrated in a few locations, especially China and South Asia.

Refugee advocates have also raised the alarm over a proposal that would see potential refugees who arrive at border crossings with the United States turned back because the neighbouring country would be designated a “third safe haven”.—Dawn/The InterPress News Service.