Immigration Reformer Herb Grubel Endorses Some of Kenney's Recent Reforms

Written by Paul Fromm

Friday, 27 April 2012 03:12

Immigration Reformer Herb Grubel Endorses Some of Kenney's Recent Reforms Troy Media April 19 2012 *VANCOUVER, BC, Apr. 19, 2012/ Troy Media*/ – Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s recent efforts to reform Canada’s immigrant selection policies will improve the efficiency of the system, will treat applicants more fairly and increase the economic prospects of immigrants. He deserves full credit for taking on policies that have been considered politically untouchable for decades. The changes reflect recommendations made by academics and independent researchers at the Fraser Institute, the C.D. Howe Institute and the Institute for Research on Public Policy. These organizations share a common desire to make immigration work more consistently in the interest of all Canadians. The minister’s announced reforms will decrease the number of sponsored parents and grandparents; shorten the queue of applicants; speed up the settlement of refugee claims; reduce the number of fraudulent marriages and “pass-port” babies; and require foreign investors to increase the size of their investment in Canada. But the most important proposed changes involve the criteria used in the selection of immigrants. These will reduce reliance on the present points system, which rewards academic qualifications, age and language proficiency, and will instead put heavy weight on prearranged employment contracts, craft skills, and work experience with Canadian employers. Experimentation with the new system has resulted in immigrants who had better economic success than those selected under the old system. This result is not surprising since employers are best able to judge whether immigrants are likely to be sufficiently productive, have the needed language skills and other characteristics necessary to earn the wages offered. The new selection system needs some administrative rules, which remain to be spelled out. One would set an acceptable wage level high enough to ensure that the immigrants pay sufficient taxes to cover the social benefits they are entitled to. For this purpose, the minimum acceptable wage offered a prospective immigrant might be set at the wage earned by the average Canadian in the region of prospective employment. There is also the need to prevent fraudulent job offers to relatives and immigrants who have bribed employers to offer them temporary high-paying jobs. This goal could be attained by requiring immigrants to file copies of their income tax returns to a special enforcement office in Ottawa, which would be authorized to revoke the permanent residence status of violators and deport them. However, the proposed reforms fail to address the most fundamental problem facing the current immigration policies. How many immigrants should Canada admit every year? No economic rationale exists for the current target of about a quarter-million immigrants a year which, as a per cent of the population, is the highest of any country in the world. Politicians justify it with vague references to its influence on Canada’s economic growth rate; the need to meet prospective labour and skills shortages; to finance social benefits for an aging population; to create a multicultural society; and to help alleviate poverty abroad. None of these arguments are valid if immigration policies are aimed at maximizing the well-being of Canadians. *Thus, immigrants add to aggregate national income, but if their personal incomes are below average, they impose a fiscal burden on taxpayers because of the country’s progressive income taxes and the universality of benefits. Labour shortages can be aggravated since immigrants cause the construction of more housing, infrastructure and the need for more social and medical services. Actuaries have shown that immigrants cannot significantly reduce the unfunded liabilities of social programs since they too age and become entitled to benefits.* Non-economic arguments involve value judgments impossible to measure and leave open important questions about the merits of alleviating poverty abroad rather than in Canada, and about the benefits from multiculturalism relative to the risk of endangering traditional values, culture, and social cohesion. Focusing on the economic issues alone, the problem of determining the optimum rate of immigration can and should be solved through the use of market signals provided through the use of prearranged employment contracts. This criterion should be applied to all applicants, who would be accompanied by their immediate family. It would also efficiently match the number of immigrants with demand for labour during business cycle fluctuations. It is time for minister Kenney to adopt these immigrant selection policies, which he already has put into place on a limited basis. These policies will greatly benefit all Canadians, including recent immigrants. He and his staff do not have to fear running out of work. They will be left with important responsibilities to enforce the new rules, protect public health and security, take care of asylum seekers, and continue dealing with the legacy of past policies. *Herbert Grubel is a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute and professor emeritus of economics at Simon Fraser University. He served as a Reform Party MP.*

 

Hear Paul Fromm -- The Fighting Side of Me: Memories True and False

Written by Paul Fromm

Thursday, 26 April 2012 03:17

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This email newsletter was sent to you in graphical HTML format. If you're seeing this version, your email program prefers plain text emails. You can read the original version online: http://ymlp313.net/zanN77 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEAR PAUL FROMM -- THE FIGHTING SIDE OF ME: MEMORIES TRUE AND FALSE ( HTTP://REASONRADIONETWORK.COM/20120410/THE-FIGHTING-SIDE-OF-ME-MEMORIES-TRUE-AND-FALSE ) April 10, 2012 Del Louie Indian Thug Paul Fromm * … commemorates April 9, 1865 — the sad but honourable surrender of Robert E. Lee & the Confederacy at Appomatox; * … exposes law based on false history — the latest “native discount” sentencing e.g. an Indian gets 18 months suspended sentence for brutally beating and damagimg a Vancouver bus driver; * … decries lunacy of the “native discount” in a society dedicated to “equality” (e.g. perp Del Louie is only half Indian but gets full native discount); * … explores the legal and media lynching of George Zimmerman and the deification of gangbanger Treyvon Martin. http://reasonradionetwork.com/20120410/the-fighting-side-of-me-memories-true-and-false ( http://reasonradionetwork.com/20120410/the-fighting-side-of-me-memories-true-and-false ) _____________________________ Unsubscribe / Change Profile: http://ymlp313.net/ugmjhqsqgsgbbqgmqbgguewwmw Powered by YourMailingListProvider

 

Tomorrow Bill C-304 Likely to be Reported Out of Committee

Written by Paul Fromm

Thursday, 26 April 2012 03:14

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This email newsletter was sent to you in graphical HTML format. If you're seeing this version, your email program prefers plain text emails. You can read the original version online: http://ymlp313.net/zEglo0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tomorrow Bill C-304 Likely to be Reported Out of Committee Bill C-304 is a private member's bill introduced by Alberta MP Brian Storseth (Conservative -- Westlake-St. Paul) to repeal Sec. 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act (Internet censorship). The House Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights met yesterday and will hear one more witness tomorrow, Jean-Francois Page, committee clerk, told me and then will report, likely without amendment, this vital piece of freedom legislation back to Parliament where third and final reading is virtually assured. Here is Brian Storseth's testimony yesterday to the Committee. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA-zGm5Tq-0 ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA-zGm5Tq-0 ) CAFÉ · Was an “interested party” or intervener during the lengthy Sabina Citron & the Toronto Mayor’s Committee on Community and Race Relations v. Ernst Zundel (1996-2002) case. Inter alia we argued that Sec. 13 – “telephonic” communication – did not apply to the Internet. We led a number of witnesses to support our submissions. · Was an “interested party” or intervener in the Mark Schnell v. John Micka Sec. 13 case. Again, we led an expert witness and argued that Sec. 13 did not apply to the Internet. · Has been an active “interested party” or intervener in Richard Warman v. Marc Lemire. This was the only Sec. 13 case where the victim/respondent won. This decision by Member Athanasios Hadjis was the subject of a judicial review hearing in Federal Court, December 13, 2011. CAFÉ was represented by Gerald Langlois. · As a complaint under the Canadian Human Rights Act is considered civil litigation, most provinces do not provide legal aid for victims of a Sec. 13 complaint. I, acting on behalf of CAFÉ, acted as a representative for the respondent in a number of cases and have been able to see the unfair proceedings and the juggernaut that crushed Canadians, usually young and poor, for merely expressing themselves on controversial topics over the Internet. · Richard Warman v. Jessica Beaumont · Richard Warman v. Ciaran Donnelly · Richard Warman v. Glen Bahr and Western Canada for Us. · Richard Warman v. Terry Tremaine · Richard Warman v. Melissa Guille and the Canadian Heritage Alliance · Richard Warman v. Jason Ouwendyk and the Northern Alliance · Centre for Research Action on Race Relations v BC White Pride & John Beck Marc Lemire's brave and tireless battle essentially wrestled Sec. 13 to the ground. We still await the decision of the judicial review in Federal Court challenging the Hadjis ruling. However, Sec. 13 now appears dead should Bill C-304 pass as we're told it will. Paul Fromm Director CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR FREE EXPRESSION _____________________________ Unsubscribe / Change Profile: http://ymlp313.net/ugmjhqsqgsgbbqgmqjgguewwmw Powered by YourMailingListProvider