Critics take immigration minister to task for application backlog

OTTAWA – Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is getting a rough ride from his political rivals over a Federal Court ruling that appears to undermine a key element of the government’s so-called omnibus bill.

One of the components of the legislation, known as Bill C-38, would eliminate a growing backlog of some 280,000 applicants under the government’s skilled workers’ program.

But a Federal Court justice has ruled that the Conservative government is obliged to process those applications in a timely way, and has failed to follow through on that pledge.

Liberal and NDP critics took Kenney to task during question period in the House of Commons, accusing him of trying to “hit the delete button” on the backlog and eliminate applications from people who are following the rules.

Kenney says the government is reviewing the court decision, but says it would be impossible to process the applications without allowing the backlog to grow.

He says the immigration system is not working for newcomers and needs to be streamlined in order to ensure new Canadians are matched with available jobs.