New Democrat Immigration Critic Olivia Chow Criticizes Horrendously Long Wait Times February 16, 2011 OTTAWA - Ms. Olivia Chow (Trinity—Spadina, NDP): Mr. Speaker, Canadians should not have to wait for seven years to be united with their parents. In Beijing and New Delhi alone, 20,000 parents are stuck waiting in the queue. Some parents have died [...]
Family Reunification
Today, as Canadians mark Valentine’s Day, the Conservatives need to improve their immigration policies to reunite families and loved ones faster, says New Democrat Immigration Critic, Olivia Chow (Trinity–Spadina). “Immigrants in the application queue are waiting longer than ever before to be reunited with their spouses, parents or children in Canada,” said Chow. “I’m asking [...]
New Democrat immigration critic Olivia Chow said the backlog in China stems from inadequate resources and an annual quota imposed by Ottawa on individual visa offices. In China, where there are 7,000 parental sponsorships in the backlog, the quota is limited to 1,000.
December 6, 2010 Ms. Olivia Chow (Trinity—Spadina, NDP): It’s holiday season. Families want to be together, especially parents with their grandkids. New immigrants get lonely. They want their parents here. I saw the backlog list. I think Mr. Yeates told me and confirmed the number, there are 145,000 parents waiting. In Beijing you have to wait [...]
December 1, 2010 Ms. Olivia Chow: I see that under the family class, the parents and grandparents are stuck still at the 13,000 level, and that’s a steep drop than, say, 10, 15 years ago, where family-class applicants in terms of the total number accounts to almost half of the people coming into Canada. [...]
October 26, 2010 OTTAWA – Today’s Auditor General’s report revealed that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has failed to set a comprehensive set of standards for service delivery. “The Auditor General’s report confirms what Canadians already know – the Conservative government delivers lousy second-rate service to immigrants,” said New Democrat Immigration critic Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina). [...]
Dear Minister Kenney, On January 16, four days after the earthquake, the Government of Canada promised to fast track reunification of Haitian families. I applauded that announcement and have been working with your office to assist in the processing of Haitian children to Canada. However, thirty five days after the earthquake, Canadians of Haitian decent [...]
NDP Immigration Critic Urges Federal Action for Haitian Children January 18, 2010 OTTAWA – Dear Minister Kenney: I urge you today to commit to bringing adopted Haitian children home to their new families immediately. I understand the need for due diligence, preventing child trafficking should always be a priority. However, these children have been through [...]
Sat 16 Jan 2010 TORONTO – Today’s government announcement regarding expedited immigration and adoption processes and additional support for Haitian-Canadian families is a commendable step in the right direction, though more changes are needed, according to New Democrat Immigration Critic Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina). “The government has announced a number of commendable changes to immigration and [...]
TORONTO – In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Canada needs to expedite the immigration process and bring Haitian adoptees into the country now, says New Democrat Immigration Critic Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina).
TORONTO – In the wake of the tragic earthquake in Haiti, the government must ease immigration regulations to help Haitians with relatives in Canada reunite with their family on Canadian soil, says New Democrat Immigration Critic Olivia Chow.
November 16, 2009 Dear friends and colleagues interested in immigration and refugee issues, The 2009 Citizenship and Immigration annual report was published recently. I am very disturbed by the decline of the target number of families that will be approved next year. With a lower target number, and overseas offices buried in paper, families will [...]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 OTTAWA – New Democrat Immigration Critic Olivia Chow is demanding changes to the current visitor visa system which will address the arbitrary approval process and lack of recourse for unsuccessful applicants.
Dear friends and colleagues, Are you left wondering whether Jason Kenney will: Apply any of the recommendations published in last Spring’s Temporary Foreign Workers report? Fix the problems with his new Citizenship law that affect families who are adopting internationally, the families of our Military, the families of our foreign service officers, and the families [...]
Contents: 1. Free Screening of H2Oil – Monday, July 6 2. Eat Local – Shop at Your Local Farmers’ Market 3. Nahanni Park is Finally Protected 4. Immigration Update – Spousal Sponsorships and Visitor Visas 5. New Democrats Score a Victory for Pensioners 6. 204 New Streetcars 7. Olivia’s Speech on Freedom and Justice in [...]
