Liberals promise fairer, faster immigration system

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Immigration policy is a critical issue for millions of Canadians. While Harper was wrong to say we are all new Canadians it is true that a large majority of Canadians are not First Nations.

VANCOUVER (CBC) - Canada’s immigration system would get a massive overhaul worth $800 million if a Liberal government is elected on Oct. 14, Stéphane Dion said Saturday.

The Liberal leader promised to clear the current backlog of 900,000 immigrants waiting to come to this country, bring in a new business and visitors’ visa system and introduce a series of programs to help new Canadians learn one of the country’s official languages and have their professional credentials recognized here.

Dion was speaking in the Richmond, B.C. riding held by a former Liberal cabinet minister, Raymond Chan, where more than half of potential voters are from the Chinese-Canadian community.

To loud cheers, he said the changes to the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Protection Act brought in by the Harper government last June were unfair and didn’t address the challenge facing the system.

A Liberal government, Dion said, would reverse those changes, including removing the discretionary power of the minister of immigration to fast track some categories of immigrant over others.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/indepth/fed_election/s/cbc/080913/canada/news_dion_immigrants_15