Proposed amendments: Finance Committee starting clause-by-clause study of Bill C-50; final reading is expected in two weeks

As far as the final vote time on Bill C-50 is approaching, the situation about the proposed amendments in Canada’s immigration laws is becoming more and more confusing.

The Budget 2008-09 Implementation Bill, or Bill C-50, that proposes few controversial amendments in current immigration procedures is under review of House of Common’s Finance Committee these days. The committee is starting a clause-by-clause study of the said bill this week, after that it will be sent back to Commons for a third and final vote. The House of Common will sit for another two weeks until June 6, but the government could extend the sitting time to June 20.

Meanwhile, the House of Common’s Immigration Committee has submitted a report to Finance Committee and recommended to kill these controversial amendments from Bill C-50. The report argues that proposed amendments in immigration laws would not apply to applicants before February 27, 2008, and due to the prioritization of new applications, the current wait times will further increase for applicants who applied before February 27.

The New Democratic Party (NDP) of Canada also suggested Finance Committee to split the budget bill into two bills by separating the budget reforms and proposed immigration reforms.

Outside of the Parliament, the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Labor Congress, the faith groups and immigrant communities across Canada have expressed their reservations about the proposed amendments.

While on the other hand, government seems very confident that the proposed changes will help reduce a backlog of nearly one million applications of permanent residence and make Canada’s immigration system more responsive to labor market needs. Conservatives are fully struggling to pass the bill in its actual form and declared that no amendment in the proposed legislation will be accepted.

Now in the emerging situation, the role of Liberals will become more and more important in the coming days. Liberals dominate in the Senate of Canada and they may support government’s proposed amendments in the Senate as they did in the House of Commons. Liberals have also refused to support the cross-country hearings on this important legislation when the Finance Committee proposes to launch a study to come up with an alternative approach that would accomplish the same goals while protecting the integrity of the system.