On Friday March 30, 2012, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
proposed new legislation that would reduce the country’s backlog of
Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) applications – by eliminating all files
submitted before February 27, 2008, when the selection criteria was
changed, and which had not been seen by immigration officials before
March 29, 2012.
根据新法案，如果一份在2008年以前递交的申请已经走过了第一步程序，那么还是会继续审批下去－－那些被毙掉的申请则不在考虑之列。
Under the proposed legislation, if an applicant submitted their
file before 2008 and it moved past the initial stage, it would be
processed regardless – meaning the applications being closed weren’t
being evaluated anyway.
政府估计这一政策会影响28万人，包括他们的家属。
The government estimated this would affect 280,000 people, including dependants.
公民及移民部长杰森•肯尼在一次接受《多伦多星报》的采访时表示：“我能理解他们的失望感受，他们耐心地按部就班等了那么久，最终等来的只是申请被退回。我对此表示遗憾。”但是“如果我们不坚决地处理旧案的积压，我们的未来会一直受到拖累。”
“I can understand their frustration and I regret the fact that they
waited patiently in the queue only to find out that we’re returning
their applications,” Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney
said in an interview with the Toronto Star. But “if we don’t decisively
deal with the old backlog, we’ll be carrying it well into the future.”
公民及移民部的一位发言人Nancy Caron对《大中报》表示，如果这项议案获得正式通过，移民部将向那些受影响的申请者退款。
If the proposed legislation is enacted, CIC will refund affected
applicants’ fees, Nancy Caron, a CIC spokesperson, told Chinese News.
他又说：“在新议案正式生效之前，部里仍旧要求签证办公室继续审批技术移民的申请，”这包括那些在2008年2月27日递交的申请。
“Until these changes come into force, CIC has instructed visa
offices to continue with the processing of FSW applications,” including
those submitted before February 27, 2008, he said.
这项议案宣布后一个月，世界各地有很多愤怒的申请者同时举行了抗议活动，包括伦敦、昌迪加尔、以及香港。
One month after the legislation was announced, many outraged
applicants held simultaneous protests in cities around the world,
including London, Chandigarh and Hong Kong.
姜一鸣参与组织了在香港的示威活动。做为一个组织“2008之前积压人士协会”的一员，他与别人合写了一份请愿书，并带领80位申请者在加拿大驻香港领事馆进行了游行。
Yiming Jiang helped organize the Hong Kong demonstration. As part
of a group called the Pre-2008 Backloggers Association, he co-wrote a
petition and led 80 applicants in a march outside Hong Kong’s Canadian
embassy.
“我们不是移民部的试验老鼠；我们是人，”请愿书中写到。“移民部的政策失误不应该让我们来付出代价，部长想出名想疯了，也不应该由我们来买单。”
“We are not the mice in CIC policy experiments; we are human
beings,” the petition read. “We should not be made to pay the price for
CIC’s... policy failures and the Minister [sic] insatiable thirst for
publicity.”
示威者把请愿书交给了大使馆的一位移民项目经理。
The protesters gave the petition to an immigration program manager at the embassy.
姜先生在2007年12月递交了他的技术移民申请。他目前的工作是担任化妆品配方师及生产经理，但是“非常乐意在加拿大的众多化妆品公司里找一家效力”，他对《大中报》表示。
Mr. Jiang submitted his FSW application in December 2007. He’s
currently working as a cosmetic formulator and production manager, but
“would very much like to work in one of the many cosmetic companies of
Canada,” he told Chinese News.
但是，依政府在2008年颁布、代号为“C-50法案”的规定，按照“国家职业分类”划分的职业当中有29种，如果你属于其中之一并且证明有经
验，你的申请才会被接受。这些职业包括厨师（国家职业分类号码为6242）、家庭医师（号码为3112）、以及护士（号码为3233）。而姜先生的职业属
于“销售代理”（号码为6221），则不在29种之列。
However, under the government’s so-called “Bill C-50,” enacted in
2008, FSW applications are only accepted from foreigners with proven
experience in one of 29 NOCs (National Occupational Classifications),
including cooks (NOC number 6242), family physicians (NOC 3112) and
nurses (NOC 3233). Mr. Jiang’s NOC, sales representative (6221), is not
on that list.
“我们递交申请的时候，移民部曾经承诺过，我们的档案肯定会按照规则进行审批，”他告诉《大中报》。“他们告诉我们说要耐心，排队等候。”
“CIC has been promising us our files will always be processed
according to the rules when we submit our applications,” he told Chinese
News. “They told us to be patient and wait in the queue.”
在C-50法案出台之前，申请者的审核标准除了考虑其工作领域，还包括语言技巧，在加拿大的亲戚有多少，以及教育程度。但对他们并没有职业限制。
Before C-50 was introduced, applicants were evaluated based on
criteria such as language skills, number of relatives in Canada and
education, in addition to their field of work. They were not limited to
certain occupations.
姜先生还表示，只有36％的申请者在那些规定的领域里工作。而根据移民部自己在2010年的评估，技术移民在来加拿大三年内有89％能找到工作或者自雇，还有95％以上的受访雇主表示，技术移民能够达到或者超过他们的预期。
Moreover, only 36 percent of applicants worked in their chosen
fields, Mr. Jiang said. Yet CIC’s own 2010 evaluation discovered that 89
percent of FSWs were employed or self-employed three years after
landing in Canada, and more than 95 percent of employers surveyed
indicated that FSWs were meeting or exceeding their expectations.
“加拿大是一个自由的国度，”姜先生说。“即使在中国我们也可以自由挑选我们喜欢的工作领域。加拿大移民部没有任何权力干预我们的工作选择。”
“Canada is a free country,” Mr. Jiang said. “Even in China we have
the freedom to work in whatever fields we like. CIC has no right
whatsoever to interfere with our job preferences.”
移民部的Caron女士表示，新法案对于加拿大“与国际上的人才竞争者保持同步”是必要的。
CIC’s Ms. Caron said the new legislation was necessary for Canada “to keep pace with our competitors for global talent.”
“如果加拿大的审核系统跟不上劳动力市场的变化，我们的结果就是奖励那些最耐心的申请者，而不是最优秀的申请者，”她表示。“一个现代化的、有成果的、讲究效率的经济移民体系是不能这么运作的。”
“If Canada’s processing system is slower than the pace of change of
the labour market, we end up rewarding the most patient applicants over
the best applicants,” she said. “This is not how a modern, effective
and efficient economic immigration system should be run.”
清除个案积压可以让移民部把精力集中到审批那些“按照目前的标准、更适合于弥补加拿大目前经济面临的短缺”的申请者。Caron表示。
Eliminating the backlog will allow CIC to focus on processing
immigrants “who apply under the current eligibility criteria and are
more suited for shortages in the Canadian economy today,” Ms. Caron
said.
“受影响的申请者可以按照技术移民目前的审核标准重新申请，”她表示。“如果他们有加拿大现在需要的技能，他们可能会得到非常迅速的审批。”
“Affected applicants can re-apply under the current FSW selection
criteria,” she said. “If they possess the skills Canada needs now, they
are likely to receive much faster processing.”
自从C-50法案颁布后，联邦政府已经把技术移民的申请个案削减了50％，从2008年的64万人减少到2011年的31.4万人。移民部官员估计如果按目前的速度处理剩下的积压申请，要到2017年才能处理完。
Since Bill C-50’s introduction, the federal government has reduced
the FSW backlog by 50 percent, from more 640,000 people in 2008 to
around 314,000 by 2011. CIC officials estimate that processing the
remaining backlog would take until 2017.
据“2008之前积压人士协会”估计，如果维持2010年的审批力度，到2015年就会把积压个案全部清理完。但是2011年的审批力度下降了一半。
The Pre-2008 Backloggers Association estimates that maintaining
2010 processing levels, which dropped by half in 2011, would allow the
government to finish processing the backlog by 2015.
添礼熙，一位多伦多的移民律师，正在准备向新法案提起诉讼。他估计如果新法案获得通过的话，集体诉讼会随之而来。
Tim Leahy, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer, is arranging
litigation against the proposal. He expects a class-action lawsuit will
be filed if the new legislation goes through.
“据我了解，加拿大政府以前还从来没有干过这么缺德的事情，”他说。
“To my knowledge, the Government of Canada has never tried to legislate such unethical behavior before,” he said.
添礼熙说“移民部暗示他们很得意的‘职业分类表’能够满足加拿大劳工市场的迫切需要，这是在误导公众，”特别是他们知道只有36％的移民会继续从事原理的工作。
Mr. Leahy said that “CIC is misleading the public by implying that
their much-vaunted ‘occupation list’ will assure that ‘urgent labour
markets’ are met,” especially given the organization’s knowledge that
only 36 percent of immigrants pursue their chosen occupation.
“不但如此，那29种职业里面有18种是需要先拿执照才能从业的，所以只要能够看透表面，就不难理解移民部的说服根本不可信。”添礼熙表示。
“Moreover, the fact that 18 of the 29 occupations require licensing
before being able to practice their trade or profession makes it
obvious to anyone who looks beyond the surface that CIC’s assertion is
devoid of credibility,” Mr. Leahy said.
添礼熙本人也是一位移民，来自底特律。来加拿大之前他做过外交官，是一个福利项目的主任，移民后成为一名律师。
An immigrant himself, from Detroit, Mr. Leahy was a diplomat and
benefit program director before he moved to Canada and became a lawyer.
“对我来说，做一个成功的移民，要能够随机应变，具有多种多样的经验，”他表示。总的来说，一个移民“如果来加拿大之前就有不止一个职业，那么来后会更容易找到工作。”
“To me, the successful immigrant is one who can improvise, one who
possesses varied experience,” he said. After all, an immigrant “who has
had more than one career before immigrating has more chances to find
employment in Canada.”
编注：英翻中：红枫编译。Translator (English to Chinese): Hong Feng.
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