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Results: 1 - 15 of 50
View Gurbax Malhi Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, on November 18, 2010 my question about temporary visitor visas was not properly addressed by the hon. member for St. Catharines. I hear from my constituents that the Conservative government does not give visitors' visas out. For that reason, I am alarmed about the transparency of Canada's temporary visa determination process.
While deciding who should be allowed in Canada is important, I disagree with the government, which places too much faith in the visa officers and gives them unaccountable discretionary powers. It shows that the government does not have in place a clear temporary visa determination process, but relies on random procedures.
A person is inadmissible to Canada if he or she has been charged with a serious crime, or is a threat to Canada's security, or has been involved in crimes against humanity. However, I know people whose applications have been refused many times, even though they have never committed any of these offences. I have seen cases of people who have money, well-paid jobs, and all of whom's family members in their home countries are well established, but they still are not granted temporary visitor visas.
Many individuals have visited their Canadian relatives before for important events such as funerals, weddings, family reunions, and anniversaries, but today for no reason they are being denied temporary visitor visas. They did not break any Canadian laws. They spent their money in our great country. However, now the government denies them entrance for important family events. This is outrageous. The system is obviously contradictory and subjective.
The hon. member for St. Catharines once said that each case is assessed on its own merits and not against any pre-established minimum levels of income, property value, or family relationship. To say that is to say that the visa officers can do whatever they want because they will not be held accountable to any minimal, normal standards. This means that visa officers can exercise their discretionary powers in unaccountable ways. The system is inhumane as it fails to consider the last wishes of Canadians on their deathbeds who want to see their relatives before they die.
The government should establish an accountable process of issuing temporary visas based on compassionate grounds and create visa bonds for these persons. Visa bonds would provide insurance that these people will return to their countries of origin. A visa bond is the only viable solution to the problem of the high rate of refusal of temporary visitor visas by the government.
View Gurbax Malhi Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I know of people whose applications have been refused many times even though they have never committed any of the offences listed. I have heard of cases where people who have money, well paid jobs, and family members who are well established in their home countries but are still not granted temporary visitor visas.
The government should listen to Canadians who demand that it establish temporary visa bonds and make the system more compassionate. In Canada we should not rely too much on the discretionary powers of visa officers.
The United States is much more generous in giving out multiple visas than Canada. In Canada we are so tightfisted.
The government should pursue this policy with diligence and not ignore it, as it is doing today. The government should start listening to the people now and increase the number of temporary visitor visas granted to people who want to visit their relatives in Canada for important family events, such as funerals, weddings, anniversaries and other important events.
View Gurbax Malhi Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, despite racking up the largest deficit in Canadian history, the government has done little to help the region of Peel. At Christmastime, I saw, first-hand, my constituents lining up at food banks, while their EI was expiring.
Why did the government increase taxes on every small business in Peel and hurt their efforts to create jobs for the unemployed?
View Gurbax Malhi Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the government cut $6 billion in taxes for the richest and largest corporations, while it hiked payroll taxes for every small business in the country. It has cut millennium scholarships for students and has wasted billions of dollars on megaprisons. It has cut off spending on affordable housing, but have billions to spend on fighter jets.
Why is this government ignoring the real needs of families?
View Gurbax Malhi Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, our economy is underperforming as the unemployment rate for the month of January in Ontario increased to 14.4% among the young adults. Despite giving $6 billion to big corporations, the government cannot create jobs and is killing them by increasing tax burdens in the form of EI payroll taxes on all small businesses. In fact, its $6 billion tax cut ignores 95% of the two million active businesses in Canada.
People in the region of Peel feel that the government is ignoring them too. The unemployment is high in this region but the government does nothing. Six billion dollars in tax cuts will not result in $6 billion worth of economic growth and jobs. Affordable housing and jobs in the region of Peel are much more needed than the corporate tax cut.
The government also needs to take concrete steps to create jobs for youth and give incentives to small businesses so that they can create more jobs for the unemployed families that are starving, under stress and are worrying about their future.
View Gurbax Malhi Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport.
Since December 1, drivers working at Pearson Airport for limousine provider Macintosh have been protesting their employer's alleged unfair and improper business practices, such as the mandatory purchase of vehicles and insurance from the company at inflated prices.
What immediate action will the minister take to ensure that the Greater Toronto Airport Authority conducts an investigation and takes appropriate action?
View Gurbax Malhi Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the following petition from constituents of Bramalea—Gore—Malton.
The petitioners call upon the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism to institute a system of visa bonds for temporary resident visa applicants wishing to come to Canada as members of the visitor class, to give immigration counsellors discretion over the creation of visa bonds, to establish minimum and maximum visa bond amounts as a guideline for immigration officials and to allow the visa bond to apply to either the sponsor or the visitor
View Gurbax Malhi Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the high rates of temporary visitor visa refusals is preventing many of my constituents and other Canadians from inviting family and friends for occasions such as weddings, funerals and other special events, even when many of them had visited Canada under the previous government.
When will the minister stop this unfairness and reform the visitor visa system to assist Canadian families in times of compassion?
View Gurbax Malhi Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the current government must finally stand up for Canadians and against those who increasingly use fraudulent marriages as a safe immigration passport to Canada.
The government should close loopholes in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, ensuring the marriage-based system is strengthened and fraudulent marriages are eliminated altogether.
When will the government assume its responsibility and ensure that Canada is not soft on immigration system abuse?
View Gurbax Malhi Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, this government must establish stronger measures to protect Canadians against people who use a fraudulent marriage as a safe immigration passport to our country.
I have repeatedly asked the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism to take action in cases when fraud was perpetrated against the Canadian immigration system, including the ones affecting many victims in my constituency.
To prevent future cases in which marriages with Canadian citizens are entered into for the purposes of obtaining permanent residence status, I call upon the government to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to strengthen the conditional immigration marriage-based system.
Furthermore, the government should establish a period of three to five years of probation for marriage-based immigrants, including a requirement that couples have been living together and intend to continue living together in the future.
Moreover, the government should restrict the finalization of each citizenship application until the probation period is complete and there has been no criminal activity or offences under the immigration act.
I strongly urge the government to take concrete action to stop marriage fraud and protect its victims.
View Gurbax Malhi Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, since 2006 the refusal rate for temporary resident visa applicants wishing to come to Canada as members of the visitor class has been too high.
Every single week I hear from constituents whose close relatives and friends are denied entry to our country for important events such as weddings and funerals, even when they had previously been welcomed to Canada numerous times under the previous government.
Therefore, many of my constituents are advocating for a visa bond system, so that immigration officers could give applicants or sponsors the chance to provide a financial guarantee in borderline visitor visa cases. This would help many applicants visit Canada to share in important milestones with family and friends. My constituents would like the government to implement this bond system as soon as possible.
The government claims to champion family values, yet in too many of these cases, no compassion or concern is shown.
View Gurbax Malhi Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, in June 1984, the most holy place of the Sikh religion, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and many other Sikh places of worship were dishonoured. Thousands of innocent children, women and men who were there to mark a holy day were killed.
In November 1984, an anti-Sikh pogrom of violence, rapes and killings took place in New Delhi and many other Indian cities, resulting in the deaths of thousands more.
In June 1985, Air India flight 182 was blown up in mid-air and over 300 people died.
I strongly urge the Indian and Canadian governments to take all reasonable measures to ensure that justice prevails for innocent victims' families. Both countries should work together to ensure that such tragedies never happen again.
I would invite all my colleagues to take a moment to reflect upon the many innocent lives lost in 1984 and 1985.
View Gurbax Malhi Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, at a time when airport security is of particular concern for the safety of Canadian passengers, the federal government has slashed funding for airport policing.
The federal government has claimed to have made security a priority, but at the same time it has eliminated the entire $15 million funding that allows Canada's eight major airports, including Mississauga's Pearson International Airport, to hire police officers to patrol the terminals.
Since federal regulations require armed police presence in our airports, it appears that the cost will be passed on to the passengers. This is more bad news for travellers who have already been hit by the government's decision in February to increase security fees by about 50% to pay for passenger and luggage screening.
I urge the government to reduce the financial burden that it is downloading on to the passengers and to stop putting air travellers at risk.
View Gurbax Malhi Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the current unemployment rate among young Canadians is 16%, double the national average.
The real needs of youth living in Bramalea—Gore—Malton and across the country are not being addressed. The youth are worried about finding full-time and summer jobs, and about gaining the work experience needed to ensure their future employment. They are worried about being able to pay their tuition fees and achieve their dream of completing higher education.
The government can create jobs by giving employers greater incentives to hire our country's future workforce. This government needs to act now and show real progress in reducing the worst youth unemployment rate in a generation.
View Gurbax Malhi Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the government is engaging in the inappropriate abuse of taxpayers' money as it spends hundreds of millions of dollars to fund its economic action plan partisan ads.
Government advertising should concentrate on informing members of the public about actions it can take or of program changes that directly affect them. The public has no pressing need to be reminded of the economic action plan on TV, radio and newspapers, including in ethnic media.
The Conservative government should stop promoting itself in publicly funded ads in an attempt to gain voter support. It must stop wasting taxpayers' money in advertising its economic action plan.
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