Promoting opportunity for new Canadians

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Good morning.

Thank you Raminder for that introduction, and thank you all very much for joining me here today.

It’s wonderful to see so many familiar faces.

We first met together on January 4…

On a frosty winter’s day

Right here in Mississauga…

In this very hotel…

In this very same room…

That’s when I made several commitments to you.

Commitments I promised to fulfill if elected Prime Minister.
I told you a new conservative government would:

• Cut the right of landing fee in half;

• Create a federal agency to help new Canadians get recognition of their skills and credentials;

• Provide more funding for immigration settlement

• Launch a full judicial inquiry into the 1985 Air India bombing; and

• Offer a formal government apology for the Chinese head tax.

Friends, just over four months have passed since I made those commitments to you.

Today, I am pleased to confirm that:

• The right of permanent residence fee has been cut

• Funds have been set aside for the creation of a new foreign credentials recognition agency;

• Over $300 million in additional immigration settlement resources are included in the budget;

• The air India inquiry has been established;

• Our new government announced in its speech from the throne that it would offer a formal apology for the Chinese head tax.

Today I am pleased to report:

• The landing fee has been cut;

• Funds have been set aside for the creation of a new credentials recognition agency;

• Over $300 million in additional immigration settlement resources are included in the budget;

• The Air India inquiry has been established; and

• Our government announced in its speech from the throne that it would offer a formal apology for the Chinese head tax.


Friends, in opposition we said what we would do. In power, we are doing it.

We have moved forward quickly on these promises because they’re important to you and important to all new Canadians.

In fact, they are important to all citizens of this great country. 

Everybody wins when newcomers bring their skills and values to this country.

- Their skills in technology, trades, medicine, engineering or the humanities.

- Their values of hard work, respect for law and order, and commitment to family and to children.

That’s why last week’s budget called for a 50% cut in the right of permanent residence fee.

That’s why last week’s budget called for a 50% cut in the right of permanent residence fee.

This so-called “user fee” is really just a tax by another name.

My friends, conservative governments believe in lower and fairer taxes.

That’s why we’re cutting the residence fee from $975 to $490 – immediately.

Just as we said we would. 
Immigrants and their families will get to keep more of their own money in their pockets when they’re starting a new life in Canada.

But that’s just a start.

We told you in January that the government must do more to attract skilled workers to this country and to make sure those skills are used.

Because individuals from every cultural group have made and can make major contributions to our economy and society.

Because it is deeply unfortunate and grossly unfair when experience, education and credentials are overlooked.

And because Canada is competing with the rest of the world to attract the best and brightest to our shores.

That’s why our new government set aside funding in its first budget to create a Canadian agency for the assessment and recognition of foreign credentials.

We understand how hard it is to make a new life in a new land.

Immigrants often face a strange web of bureaucracy and an unfamiliar jungle of red tape.

In Canada there are 13 different jurisdictions, 15 regulated professions, and more than 400 regulatory bodies.

In Canada there are 13 different jurisdictions, 15 regulated professions, and more than 400 regulatory bodies.

So it’s clear that new immigrants need a welcoming hand to help them stick handle through this maze.

The agency will do just that by working with all of our partners – the provinces, professional and licensing bodies, employers and immigrants

– To make sure newcomers’ skills, training and credentials are recognized.

Respected.

And rewarded.

The goal for all of us will be to get those who are trained and ready to work in their fields of expertise into the workforce more quickly.

Because we want the world’s best in Canada.

And they want to come here.

That’s why, for example, we have just extended work permits to foreign students whose skills are needed off-campus.

But our budget does more.

It also commits $307 million for increased immigration settlement funding.
This is new money that will go to our partners in the immigration system to help newcomers become full members in the Canadian family.

Help with ESL or FSL language training.

Help with housing, education and employment.

It is the least we can do for people who have responded to our call and chosen Canada.

Friends, Canada’s new government recognizes that we are all privileged to live in a country uniquely blessed.

And we also recognize that we have a duty to share these blessings with others.

One of the most generous ways we do this is by welcoming orphaned children from overseas into our country.
Which is exactly what Canadians are doing.
Canadians like Agnes Lee.

Dr. Lee of McMaster University is here with us today – along with her adopted daughter Kate.

Aggie came to Canada from Hong Kong when she was 10 years old.

Katie came to Canada from china when she was 10 months old.

Her Chinese name translates as “lucky sunshine,” and I think I know why.

As an infant she was found abandoned outside a Chinese village.

There was no identification - only a note with her birth date.

A few months later, she was adopted by aggie and her husband Rob Marsh, and brought back to Canada.

Lucky sunshine indeed.

But it took 14 months for Katie to become a Canadian citizen.

During that time the family had to travel to the United States.

Because Katie wasn’t a Canadian citizen, she actually had to be fingerprinted at the border.

I’m very happy to report that Katie’s a Canadian now.

And as you can tell just by looking at her, Canada is lucky too.

But it shouldn’t have taken so long for her to obtain citizenship.

That’s why our government has committed to streamlining the foreign adoption process.

Next Monday, we will introduce legislation that will make it easier for parents who adopt overseas to obtain Canadian citizenship for their children.

Next Monday, we will introduce legislation that will make it easier for parents who adopt overseas to obtain Canadian citizenship for their children.

Those parents, like Aggie and Rob, go to great effort and expense to bring those children into their families.

They open their hearts and their homes to provide opportunities for children who often come from impoverished or war-ravaged countries where the value of human life has been forgotten.
I am therefore pleased to announce that our government will help strengthen those adoptive families by making them all full-fledged members of the Canadian family as quickly as possible.

Parents have asked us to help them make their foreign-adopted kids Canadian.

And that’s just what we’re going to do.

Because we are keeping our promises to new Canadians just as we are keeping our promises to all Canadians.

We are keeping our promise to cut taxes.

We are keeping our promise to clean up government.

We are keeping our promise to provide choice in childcare.

We are keeping our promise to address the fiscal imbalance and establish wait time guarantees for essential health services.

We are keeping our promise to crack down on the criminals who threaten the peaceful way of life that attracts people to Canada from around the world.

Because Canadians were fed up with the way their country was going.

They wanted change, and that’s what we’re delivering.

For new Canadians, for all Canadians.

We’re moving forward every day…

Towards a new and better Canada.

Thank you.

God bless Canada.