Ottawa, ON – Today, the Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner, Conservative Shadow Minister for Immigration, issued the following statement on an additional amendment to Bill C-12, which would ensure that the Liberals cannot use extraordinary powers in Part 7 to change, extend, or cancel visas or permanent resident cards in order to mass-extend temporary work visas:

“During the debate on Bill C-12, officials were unable to provide concrete examples of how they intended to use the sweeping powers in Part 7 of the bill. That’s why Conservatives successfully amended the legislation to include a requirement for the Liberals to report to Parliament on how they use the powers, for the Minister to come to Committee when they are used, and clarify that the powers cannot be used to mass-convert temporary residents into permanent residents.

“Statistics Canada has revealed that the Liberals missed a whopping 38 per cent of temporary residents in its last census. This was on top of a story from earlier this fall, which described how over a million temporary residents have expiring visas. 

“Last spring, the Liberals admitted they had no plan to get these non-citizens to leave once their visas expired. For months, they have resisted Conservative efforts to disclose exit and entry information, raising questions about the accuracy of the exit data. Worse, the Immigration Committee has begun investigating Liberal efforts to speed up citizenships and influence the result of the 1995 Quebec referendum.

“These issues, combined with the lack of clarity from officials on how they plan to use the powers in Part 7 of Bill C-12, led Conservatives to give notice of an amendment to the bill, which would prevent the Liberals from using these powers to mass-extend all types of temporary resident visas. 

“Canadians should have confidence that those who are supposed to leave Canada will do so. The same goes for the provinces, whose hospitals and classrooms have come under extreme pressure after a decade of Liberal mass immigration.

“If the Liberals have no plans to use the powers in C-12 to recklessly extend temporary resident visas, then they will support this amendment today.”