The landmark amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act were included in a budget implementation bill tabled Friday - making them a confidence matter.
Unless the Liberals reverse their recent habit of abstaining from confidence votes, the government should survive and win approval for the changes.
Immigration Minister Diane Finley said the legislation will help speed things up for the skilled workers this country needs, but who often give up on
Finley declined to speculate about which immigration categories could be banished to the lower rungs of the priority list.
The legislation merely gives the government power to set those priorities, she said, and added that any future policy changes will be transparent and announced in Parliament.
"My priority right now is to get the legislation through first," Finley said in an interview.
"Then (it's to) find the most efficient and effective way to reduce the backlog and speed up the processing times for all categories."
She said the legislation could eventually help speed things up for all types of immigrants.
For instance, she intends to use her new powers to ask officials to proceed quickly in clearing out-of-date applications from people who have died, re-applied, or moved elsewhere since filing their papers.
Embedded in the 136-page budget bill are about a dozen immigration clauses that would:
-Allow the government to reject a would-be immigrant who has already been ruled admissible by immigration officers.
The legislation says a visa or document "may" be issued in such cases, a clear change from the existing law which says a visa or document "shall" be issued.
-Allow the minister to set limits on what types of immigrants can enter each year.
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http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jYyKD6CdRFPGfG0JPPv1vtl_-1PQ
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