By Lucy-Claire Saunders

A controversial immigration bill which was sold by the Conservative government as a way to reduce the growing visa backlog recently sailed through the House of Commons, sparking outrage at the opposition Liberals for failing to protect immigrant rights.

The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC), among others, slammed Liberal leader Stephane Dion and the Liberal caucus for allowing C-50 to pass, as almost 80 Liberal members were absent for the vote.

"Community and labour groups have vigorously opposed the proposed immigration changes in C-50 from day one," said executive director Victor Wong, from Toronto. "These proposed changes would have been withdrawn earlier or certainly defeated if the Liberals had exercised their responsibility as Members of Parliament and reported for work."

Attached at the end of a budget implementation bill, C-50 amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). As a part of the new legislation, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will no longer be required to process all applications — except for protected refugees and those requesting asylum from within Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

Bill C-50 will only effect those who applied on or after February 27, 2008, sparking accusations that the bill was sold under false premises that it would help clear a backlog of over 900,000.

What's more, critics charge that the bill will give CIC Minister Diane Finley overreaching powers to "cherry pick" immigrants who fit in with Canada's labour priorities.

Speaking cautiously, Kenneth Tung, chair of S.U.C.C.E.S.S., a non-profit group that assists new immigrants in Metro Vancouver, said there is an obvious need to update an archaic immigration system but only time will tell whether modernization will come at the expense of justice.

"We don't know how the changes will be practically implemented yet," he said. "We hope that it will upgrade our current system by clearing the backlog but certainly there must be balance by making sure the system is transparent and fair."

By limiting the number of applicants, qualified or not, the federal government hopes to reduce long wait times and cater to provinces which have been clamoring for skilled labour.

In general, the Canadian population agrees with the government. According to a recent poll by Angus Reid Strategies, 83 per cent of those polled see the importance of attracting highly skilled migrants to Canada, while 65 per cent supported the initiatives of the new rules to ease labour shortages.

But the ultimate power of the minister is causing alarm. Almost half polled said they foresee the threat of a purely subjective decision making process.