News Release

December 8, 2003                                                                                        For Immediate Release

PERMANENT RESIDENT CARD PROGRAM ANOTHER BUREAUCRATIC FIASCO

“Canada’s permanent residents deserve better from this Liberal government.”

Ottawa – Garry Breitkreuz, M.P. for Yorkton-Melville, lambasted the Liberal government for creating an “eleventh-hour” backlog of applicants for the Permanent Resident (PR) Card.  The PR Card replaces the IMM 1000 Record of Landing and will be considered the official proof-of-status document for permanent residents.  As of December 31^st, 2003, all permanent residents returning to Canada without a valid PR card will not be permitted to board their commercial carrier (airplane, boat, train or bus).  A permanent resident is someone who has been allowed to enter Canada as an immigrant, but has not yet become a Canadian citizen.

There are serious problems with the implementation and administration of the new card.  “The Liberals have known for years that changes to the permanent resident process would result in this last-minute rush and confusion.  While one would expect the government to commit the resources necessary to clear up the backlog as quickly as possible, little effort has been made.  It’s simply another example of this government’s bureaucratic incompetence, and Canada’s permanent residents are caught in the middle,” exclaimed Breitkreuz.

The official deadline for applying for a PR card was September 30^th, 2003.  However, permanent residents were required to submit their applications on certain staggered dates based on their year of landing.  “Permanent residents were informed of the new PR policy and deadlines for registration by mail sent to their last known address.  Yet the federal government failed to recognize that many people move over the years.  As a result, many have missed their deadlines.  Clearly the government did not have a plan to ensure that permanent residents were properly notified,” stated Breitkreuz.

To add to this bureaucratic mess, individuals who did apply cannot get their Permanent Resident card by mail due to CIC security policy.  “In rural Canada, this is especially inconvenient as CIC offices often are located hundreds of miles away in urban centres.  Surely the government could have developed measures to address the particular needs of those individuals residing in rural Canada!” Breitkreuz continued.

It is fiscally irresponsible for the Liberal government to consider $7 billion to fund a national identification program at a cost that could finance the entire immigration system for 20 years, while not being able to properly manage and resource its new PR card system.  “The problems with the new PR cards, which are without biometrics, have shown once again why the Liberals should not be trusted to impose a system of national ID cards with biometrics.  Canada’s permanent residents deserve better from this Liberal Government,” concluded Breitkreuz.

For those seeking more information on the new PR Card, applications and information kits are available on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website at:  www.cic.gc.ca, or you can call the CIC’s toll-free number at 1-800-255-4541.

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