Thursday, August 05

BRIAN LAGHI
Parliamentary Bureau
Thursday, August 5, 1999

Ottawa -- Canada's new Immigration Minister says Canadians need to learn more from their government about immigrants' contributions to the country in order to eliminate tensions and misunderstandings.

"I think there's a lot of confusion and it's difficult to engage the public in discussion around the importance around immigration," said Elinor Caplan, who was seen as the biggest winner in the midterm federal cabinet shuffle announced Tuesday.

"What I hope to be able to do is to begin to do that."

Ms. Caplan, whose grandparents arrived from Poland at the turn of the century, said the lack of understanding can sometimes lead to misapprehensions, and that sometimes Canadians don't appreciate enough how the country has successfully built itself through immigration. The government should talk more about the economic prosperity and enormous talents immigrants bring to Canada, she said.

"We don't think about that, in my view, often enough, and so sometimes there are tensions and misunderstandings, but I think generally Canadians are proud of our international recognition as a compassionate society," she said. "If we can engage Canadians in thinking about how important the future of immigration is to this country and what they bring -- which is prosperity -- we can help clear up some of the confusion."

Her remarks appear to reflect the Liberal government's traditional view of the importance of immigrants as a critical base of its support. The government was criticized this spring for its new citizenship legislation, which even some back-bench Liberals said ran counter to the party's traditional backing for newcomers.

However, Ms. Caplan also balanced her views with a pledge to continue enforcing the law against those who try to enter the country illegally. The most recent example is that of 123 illegal Chinese immigrants who were taken from a listing ship off the British Columbia coast two weeks ago. Police have released about two-thirds of the smuggled individuals, but are recommending criminal charges against some of the others.

"We know there are some desperate to come here who . . . might be seen as taking advantage, and we don't want to be taken advantage of." She said criminals are not welcome.

Ms. Caplan, who served in the cabinet of former Ontario premier David Peterson, faces a series of challenges in her new portfolio. Among them: deciding how far to go in changing the country's Immigration Act, and whether to push forward with changes to the way immigrants receive Canadian citizenship. The latter bill, which is to be voted on this fall, caused considerable controversy among Liberal backbenchers, particularly those from ethnically diverse Toronto.

The bill would make it more difficult for some immigrants -- particularly business people and others who must travel outside the country -- to get citizenship, and would also make it easier for the department to strip citizenship from newcomers who run afoul of the law. The minister is also under some pressure to eliminate a $975 fee charged to potential immigrants, such as those who have arrived from Kosovo.

She hinted yesterday that the government may be willing to review the fee.

"We're in a situation where we're no longer in deficit. Those are the sorts of issues that we should have an opportunity to consider," she said.

Ms. Caplan also pledged that her department will listen more closely to stakeholder groups. The department has been criticized for not paying enough attention to immigration lawyers, ethnic groups and non-governmental organizations who work with immigrants. Many believe the lack of an open-door policy harmed the recent introduction of the proposed citizenship act, which was significantly amended after complaints.

"I always think that hindsight is important," she said. " . . . I don't dwell on the past, but what I'm hoping to do is encourage people to feel that they will be welcome to give me their views."

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