Nick Noorani Website

OTTAWA — The biggest rabbit to come out of the federal hat this year has been the major overhaul of Canada’s immigration system that the Conservatives tucked in their budget implementation bill, thereby risking the life of their minority government.
An attending surprise has been that Immigration Minister Diane Finley – who has been cast in a rare leading role in the budget debate – can hold her own in French.
With the Conservative immigration policy emerging as the last remaining trigger for a spring election, a bilingual immigration minister could come in handy on the campaign trail.
For if the Harper government were to fall over its proposed reform, none of the parties should be under the delusion that the immigration debate would be a one-day wonder, with Finley and her plan disappearing into the woodwork of the Conservative platform.

Apr 09, 2008 04:30 AM
Chantal Hébert
There are some issues that take on a life of their own in a campaign and at this particular time in Canada, immigration would be one of them.
There have been plenty of recent signs that the country may be ripe for an immigration election, as well as indications that politicians could have a hard time keeping a handle on such a campaign.
To wit, the pivotal role played by the Tory proposal to fund religious schools in last fall’s Ontario election.
At a time when the province is undergoing a painful economic restructuring, bread-and-butter issues still took a second place to the school-funding question and the larger issue of integration.
At this time last year, the debate as to what constitutes a reasonable accommodation of minorities helped turn Quebec’s election dynamics on their head.
The province has been debating immigration levels ever since. A spring federal election would actually coincide with the publication of the report of the provincial commission on reasonable accommodation.
That – in passing – should give the Bloc Québécois pause on the way to taking on the government over the new immigration powers that the budget bill would vest in the minister.
At this juncture, the immigration status quo could be a hard sell in Quebec. A federal election fought over immigration policy would be a significant challenge for the Liberals as well as the Conservatives.
In a campaign, Stéphane Dion could not continue to attack the government proposals without coming up with an alternative plan of his own. For while there are troubling grey areas in the Conservative policy, there is also a wide consensus that Canada’s immigration system has broken down.
Fresh from 10 years in office, the Liberals probably know that better than anyone. One of the reasons they did not fix it when they were in government was that they could not have done so without antagonizing many of their core constituencies.
Over the last Liberal decade in power, the immigration portfolio emerged as a high-risk/no-reward cabinet position, one whose holders were often more preoccupied with finding a quick exit strategy than with leaving a mark on the file.
Jean Chrétien changed immigration ministers six times. Paul Martin had two in less than two years. Stephen Harper is now on to his second one.
There was a time when a revolving ministerial door was a key feature of the troubled health portfolio. But today, immigration is emerging as the new health care, a complex, quasi-intractable file whose substance is just as quickly taking second place to political optics.
Chantal Hébert’s national affairs column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/412729