Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - April 2008
The chairman of Canada�s Immigration and Refugee Board says that failure to act, on the part of the Conservative government, has led to a massive backlog in pending refugee claims.
According to the IRB, since winning power in February 2006, the Conservatives have been very slow to appoint adjudicators and the growing vacancies, going from 10 to 58, have resulted in more than double the number of pending refugee applications. The backlog has grown to over 42,000 claims and the Board projects that if trends continue, the number will reach a record-high 62,000 this year, with 10,000 more added each year following.
The increase in pending claims has also resulted in an increase in average waiting time. Prior, a claimant could expect a decision, on average, within 11.7 months. Now, he or she will likely wait five months longer.
However, the Government has fired back at these statements, arguing that they have made over 100 appointments since their arrival in office and have been busy strengthening the screening process for new adjudicators.
�Unlike under the Liberals, candidates [now] have to pass a written exam,� said Diane Finley, the current Minister of Immigration under the Conservatives. �Under the previous government, 25 per cent of those named to the board had failed their exam.�
Critics seem unconvinced on this, however, and many hypothesize that the government is purposely allowing the backlog to balloon out-of-control. They say that once the backlog reaches crisis levels the Conservatives will have an excuse to obliterate the system and implement their own.
Source: The Canadian Press
