Speaking points for the Honourable Jason Kenney, P.C., M.P. Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism at a Roundtable lunch with the Indo–Canadian Business Chamber

New Delhi, India, January 13, 2009

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Introduction/Canada–India relations

Thank you for that kind introduction. Na–Ma–STAY. (Hello.) On behalf of our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, thank you for inviting me here today.

I’m delighted to be in India. Those of you from Canada or who have spent time there remember what the climate can be like in January. The climate of relations between our two countries is much warmer. Canada and India have a special bond and our connection is not accidental.

We are both constitutional democracies, inheritors of a glorious tradition that dates back nearly a thousand years to the Magna Carta.

In the past decade, some 250,000 people from this country have emigrated to Canada. More than 700,000 people of Indian heritage now call Canada home. When you consider that Canada’s total population is less than 33 million, these are significant numbers, and they will become more significant in the years and decades ahead.

The Indo–Canadian community has made huge contributions to Canada for over a century. The list of Canadians of Indian heritage who have made their mark on our society includes people from all walks of life:

• Comedian, Russell Peters
• Authors, M.G. Vassanji and Rohinton Mistry
• Actress, Lisa Ray
• Film Director, Deepa Mehta
• Figure–skater, Emanuel Sandhu
• My colleagues in Parliament, including the newly elected Tim Uppal and Devinder Shory.

Readers of modern literature will know of the strong connection between our two countries.

A number of great books set in India have been nominated for the prestigious Booker Prize, including this year’s winner by Indian writer Aravind Adiga. Though my favourite piece of Indian literature remains Vikram Seth’s “Suitable Boy,” which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize.

Canadian author, Rohinton Mistry, has been nominated three times for the Booker Prize and each of those books has the hustle and bustle of Mumbai as its backdrop.

So Canadian readers are getting to know your country well, and we are richer for it!

Canada and India share a heritage through the Commonwealth and through our Parliamentary traditions. We are blessed with a diversity of peoples and an enormity of landscape.

Just over a year ago, Minister Finley, my predecessor, came here to announce the expansion of my department’s operations here.

And the degree of Canada’s commitment to India is obvious this month.

I am one of three Ministers of our Government’s Cabinet visiting India in January. In fact, there are probably more Cabinet Ministers in India this month than there will be in Ottawa. So in case we need to have a Cabinet meeting, we can just have it here.

While we might not have enough to make quorum for a Cabinet meeting, a couple more Ministers and we could start a Canadian Cabinet ice–hockey team here.

Canada vs. India

India is a country that is changing quickly. Whether at the heart of government in New Delhi, or the heart of enterprise in Mumbai, it is blending a vibrant and ancient culture with the changes of the modern world.

Compared to India, Canada is a young country. Indian history stretches back millennia; Canadian history is recounted in centuries.

Since our Confederation in 1867, more than 15 million people have immigrated to Canada. Last year alone we attracted more than 400,000 people—both permanent and temporary residents—from every corner of the globe.

Our latest national Census informs us that one in five people now living here was born outside our borders, the highest proportion of immigrants we have experienced in more than 75 years.

Canada needs immigration. Our government, and our Prime Minister, believe in immigration. It is part of our history, a part of our fabric. As Prime Minister Harper once said, “immigrants built this country.”

And from an economic perspective, immigration has an important role to play in keeping our economy growing.

Like many other western countries, our workforce is aging, and our birthrate is low. We estimate that within a few years, all the net growth in our labour force will be the best result of immigration.

So, despite the current global economic downturn which has resulted in some countries considering scaling back their immigration levels, our Government recognizes that, for Canada, immigration remains vital.

Canada’s actions: Immigration and credential recognition

In an economic climate where many are tempted to batten down the hatches, we remain very open.

I recently announced plans to welcome between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents in 2009, demonstrating our commitment to a strong immigration program. This will be the highest immigration levels in Canadian history.

We have also introduced a number of changes to make decisions on new immigration applications faster, reduce the backlog—which is over 900,000—and bring in the skilled workers whose skills will give them the best chance to succeed in our economy.

As well, we are working to make Canada a more attractive option for international students. After they graduate, we now allow them to stay in Canada and work for up to three years with an open work permit—meaning they no longer need a job offer before obtaining the work permit.

And we've just put in place a new program—the Canadian Experience Class—to make it easier for certain students and temporary foreign workers to apply to become permanent residents.

What is happening right here in India demonstrates that our actions are working.  For 2008, our New Delhi office issued more than 19, 000 visas, well in excess of what was anticipated for this year.

This shows how we are both reducing our application backlog and helping people in India to immigrate to Canada.

But beyond our successes, there are challenges. We must still reduce the time applicants wait to be considered. We also need to help international skilled trades people and professionals get their credentials recognized once they arrive in Canada.

When visiting Indo–Canadian groups in Canada, I often hear from newcomers of the need to understand what qualifications they need before they come to the country. One of the stories I hear most often is that of the newcomer to Canada who has struggled to find a job in their field.

Success means reaching our potential—as individuals and as a country. So if newcomers with strong skills and professional backgrounds aren’t doing that, that means lost opportunity for newcomers and for Canada.

This is why our Government has invested in the Canadian Immigration Integration Project here in India, as well as in China and the Philippines—all key source countries of immigrants to Canada—to help internationally trained immigrants learn about the requirements of the labour market in Canada.

Working in cooperation with the Association of Canadian Community Colleges and our federal partners at Human Resources and Social Development, they provide orientation and counselling sessions for prospective immigrants.

But Canada’s immigration system is not only about economics.  Family reunification remains an important objective. We have been working to ensure family–class immigrants are processed as efficiently as possible.

Here in India, for example, 80 percent of applications for spouses wishing to join their partners in Canada are finalized in six months or less.

We also remain concerned about questionable immigration consultants and want people from India to know that they do not need to hire immigration representatives to apply for visas or Canadian citizenship If they do choose to hire such people, they must be authorized representatives.

Unscrupulous immigration consultants pose a serious risk to individual applicants and can cause substantial financial hardship.

Canada–India trade relations

Our Government believes in stronger relations between Canada and India and that Canadians can learn more about India as an emerging economic superpower.

Last year, our two–way trade grew to a record level of $3.6 billion, including a 55 percent increase in merchandise exports to India. That constitutes the highest increase in 14 years.

This is partly why we are posting additional trade commissioners at Canada's established trade offices in Delhi and Mumbai.

But because India’s economy is developing across the country, we have also opened trade offices in Hyderabad and Kolkata to reach the southern and eastern regions of the country.

These actions to strengthen relations are not only tied to our economies but are rooted in our shared histories of Parliamentary democracy, our federalist systems, and our legal systems.

They also touch on something that Prime Minister Harper has commented on and which unites us at an even deeper level—our mutual embrace of pluralism and diversity.

This embrace of pluralism is at the heart of India's embrace of the concept of a free and democratic society.

Last April Prime Minister Harper said, and I quote: “India increasingly accepts not only a democratic system of government, but also the benefits and imperatives of a free–market economy, because free people and free markets are ultimately inseparable.”

Multiculturalism

The influence of the world’s cultures upon generations of Canadians is undeniable. Our model of pluralism and immigration is the result of our history and of the values rooted in that history.

Values that accommodate differences in culture, language, and religion, rather than trying to impose a false conformity. Values such as human dignity, and freedom of conscience—where harmony is the rule rather than the exception.

A key goal of this commitment is to support a shared idea of citizenship among all Canadians, whatever their origins. An idea that focuses on building bridges, integrating newcomers, and fostering respect for our shared institutions, values and history.

After all, multiculturalism and citizenship are not just for newcomers. They are for all Canadians, as the popularity of citizenship reaffirmation ceremonies demonstrates.

So we have invested significant funds to help newcomers, such as those who have joined us today, integrate into Canadian society.

We introduced new priorities in the Multiculturalism Program to promote integration, help youth–at–risk and encourage intercultural understanding by responding to today’s issues.

In short, we aim not only to bring newcomers to Canada, but to help them integrate into the country and embrace intercultural understanding and our shared values.

Security and Mumbai attacks

Just over a month ago, I joined hundreds of people of many backgrounds in Toronto at a candlelight vigil in memory of the people who were killed—including two Canadians—in the Mumbai terror attacks on November 26, 2008.

The vigil was organized by the Canada–India Foundation and supported by more than 70 religious, cultural, and humanitarian groups. The chair of the Canada–India Foundation, Surjit Babra, put it well by calling on those at the vigil to help “create a tsunami of peace in the world.”

The Government of Canada condemns such outrageous acts of violence.

No political or religious cause could justify the hatred which leads to such violence against the innocent. For this reason, Prime Minister Harper has pledged to stand with our democratic colleagues in India in their fight to eliminate terrorism.

Terrorism is a global reality, and like our allies, Canada is not immune to the threat. This is why immigration to Canada is regulated by comprehensive legislation to admit people who meet specific requirements while denying entry to those who threaten public health and safety or national security.

Conclusion

In the past decade, India has emerged as a rising star in the international business community, with a growing affluent middle class. And as Indians come to study, work, and live in other countries like Canada, strong international financial alliances will continue to be formed.

I look around this room and I can see people who are promoting the kind of vibrant exchange that will help both our countries. We all benefit from our mutual friendship.

On behalf of Prime Minister Harper and the Government of Canada, I congratulate you and encourage you to continue with these efforts to build stronger ties between our two countries.