A controversial move to legislate away Canada’s enormous immigration backlog may is facing increasing obstacles in both the House of Commons and Federal Court.
The proposed law was part of this spring’s budget Bill tabled by the Conservative government in their first majority win in recent years. Among the many proposals was a highly controversial law that would see the return of approximately 280,000 immigration applications that had been in line for processing – some as long as 8 years.
Critics have strongly expressed their opposition to the bill, pressuring the Immigration Department to ease up and not compromise Canada’s image and reputation on the global market.
However, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has stood by the proposed legislation, and included it in this week’s marathon debate in the House of Commons. Opposition members took advantage of the opportunity to take Kenney to task, saying that he wanted to simply hit the “delete” button and make the problem go away with no real long-term plan.
Another blow to the bill was issued this week as a Federal Court judge ruled that the government has an obligation to process the applications that were deemed eligible for processing.
The ruling is part of a massive lawsuit launched against the government on behalf of over 900 applicants whose files are part of the returned backlog.
Source: Ottawa Citizen