Repatriate Me!

On the CBC there is an article about Immigrant visas to drop 5 per cent The basic synopsis is that the government is reducing the number of visas offered to parents and grandparents of immigrants – these are known as family reunification visas. The change is being done to give priority to children and spouses, which will hopefully mean that our visa application currently underway gets processed a little faster.

Some quotes on the parents and grandparents from the article:

Parents and grandparents often aren’t viewed as a help to the economy. But Aiken said many immigrants entering the workforce rely on parents and grandparents for child care and help around the home.

Kurland told CBC News the slashed rate and the 140,000 applicants already in the queue mean a parent could wait 13 years for a visa if he or she were to apply today.

“Frankly, there’s a better chance of the parents seeing a coffin before a Canadian visa,” he said.

Interestingly everytime I see an article on the CBC about immigration it’s filled with tons of anti-immigration comments. Most of the comments are ignorant emotional responses to the article and not based on fact. This one is no different including several comments saying that parents/grandparents arrive and are an economic leech to the taxpaying Canadian. What they don’t realize is that their sponsor (that would be their children) has to meet strict financial requirements to qualify as a sponsor and further more agrees that the immigrant will not receive any sort of government support for a certain number of years. In the case of a spousal visa it’s three years, but I don’t know off hand what the minimum time is for parents or grandparents.

And another article in the Toronto Star on the same subject with the same kind of comments.

On an unrelated note, happy Valentines day.

• UPDATE ****
  Seen on facebook
  

  Your car is German. Your vodka is Russian. Your pizza is Italian. Your kebab is Turkish. Your democracy is Greek. Your coffee is Brazilian. Your movies are American. Your tea is Tamil. Your shirt is Indian. Your oil is Saudi Arabian. Your electronics are Chinese. Your numbers are Arabic & your letters Latin, & you complain your neighbour is an immigrant? Pull yourself together! Copy if you’re against racism.