Stratford - A new investigation by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) into the province’s immigration programs has Opposition Leader James Aylward renewing calls for the MacLauchlan government to do a full review of how these programs are working in practice.
"We need a transparent and effective program to meet our province’s long-term immigration goals but a second federal investigation in less than three months doesn’t inspire confidence about government oversight. That’s why I’m renewing our call for a full review of our provincial immigration programs so that we can finally act on the problems found," says Aylward.
Aylward noted that throughout the spring sitting of the Legislature government assured MLA’s and Islanders that the province’s immigration programs were being well run and that federal charges over 565 permanent residents approved through the PEI PNP using the Sherwood Motel as an ‘address of convenience’ were an isolated incident. The new federal immigration investigation is unrelated to that case, pushing the potential total of permanent residents using ‘addresses of convenience to over 1000.
“This isn’t about if we do immigration but how we do it properly. For 11 years minister after minister has failed to manage our immigration programs properly,” says Aylward. “We were assured by the latest minister that this was an isolated incident and we now know that isn’t the case. The entire immigration program needs to be reviewed from top to bottom so that the problems can be fixed and it needs to happen now,” concluded Aylward.