Stop the blame game

NDP MP Siksay is accusing Liberal Leader Stephane Dion of flip-flopping on the immigration bill introduced by the conservatives.

Dion vowed on Saturday to remove the power of the immigration minister to pick and choose among classes of people trying to gain entry to Canada. These powers are contained in a conservative budget bill that was approved by the liberals because they were not in a mood to defeat the Harper government that time.

But, Siksay, who is running in Burnbay-Douglas, said that it is not fair on Dion’s part to oppose a bill that he supported just few months ago. Siksay questioned in a news release- where was Dion when he had a chance to stop the immigration reform proposed by the Harper Government?

Siksay said that the bill shifts the focus of immigration policy of Canada from reuniting immigrant families to bringing in more foreign workers. He said that the change could impact hundreds of families in Burnaby. Siksay said that the Liberals had the opportunity to say no to these terrible changes but they blew the opportunity.

But, Bill Cunningham, Liberal candidate for Burnaby-Douglas, said that when the bill was passed Dion made it clear that they would overturn it if they form the next government. Cunningham said during an interview that Bill Siksay is being a bit hypocritical. He said that it would have been an irresponsible move had the bill been rejected before there was a viable alternative.

He said that the Liberals just cannot stand up and say that they don’t like it, like the NDP. Instead, the liberals have to behave in a more responsible way, he added.

Cunningham accused the Prime Minister Stephen Harper of making use of the bill to trigger an election. But, to the credit of Dion, he wasn’t playing such games, Cunningham said.

Meanwhile, Conservative government Ronald Leung blamed previous Liberal Governments for the huge backlog of immigration applications. He questioned Liberals ability to handle the problem of immigration, as during the 13 years the Liberals were in power, the waitlist grew from 50,000 to 80,000 people. He also posed the question that if the conservatives weren’t able to do it in those thirteen years then how could they do it now.

Doug Perry, Burnaby-Douglas candidate of Green Party said that he is not sure if the should be rescinded. But he believes that it should be changed to make sure that decisions are not made arbitrarily behind closed doors.