Sask. Pakistanis frustrated by immigration process

Members of Saskatoon’s Pakistani community told federal NDP Leader Jack Layton on Saturday they are being frustrated by immigration officials in their attempts to bring family members to Canada.

The provincial immigrant nominee program — which is meant as a way to fast-track the immigration process for those looking to settle in Saskatchewan — is supposed to help immigrants acquire visas for family members or skilled workers more quickly than through federal immigration classes, but Pakistanis in Saskatoon say they are being singled out at the federal level.

Layton heard emotional stories of longer than normal wait times and of people who came to Saskatchewan with the promise that if they settled here and found gainful employment, they could more quickly bring others from Pakistan to join them.

Members of the Pakistani community say contrary to the experience of other immigrant communities in the city, they are being specifically targeted by the federal government.

Those speaking with Layton said they fill out the provincial forms and are approved, but once those documents go on to the federal immigration office they keep being sent back.

"All we get are questions. We send in a form and it comes back; more questions, questions," said Syed Shah, owner of Olympia Restaurant.

Pakistanis in Saskatoon say people from the Filipino or Indian communities are having their applications for visas processed in six to eight weeks, but for Pakistanis it’s taking six to eight months, and in the end they’re often being denied.

They wonder if the reasons for the delays are geopolitical.

"We pay taxes, we’re not terrorists. One person does bad, that doesn’t make us all bad. We need your help," said Shah, raising his voice in frustration.

Kashif Malik, owner of H67 Donair and J & W Grocery in Saskatoon, has been trying to get his wife to Canada for more than a year. He moved to Saskatoon from Montreal because of the provincial immigrant nominee program, and now Malik can’t understand why the program does not work for him.

If anything, he’s the kind of person it’s made for, a real entrepreneur, he says.

"So you’ve come here with great sacrifices, expecting to be welcomed in and it turns out the government of Canada is failing you," said Layton.

He pledged to take their issue to Ottawa and offered that Nettie Wiebe, the NDP candidate for Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, could act as a liaison on the issue.

"We have to remember how this country was built," Layton said.

"It is a great tradition of our country to invite people from all over the world to come and help us build. What we have now is a situation where people from some countries are preferred, and people from others, well they won’t tell you you’re not preferred, but they certainly won’t make it easy for you."

During his Saturday visit to Saskatoon, Layton called on the federal government to extend the period of time for which they’ll match donations for flood relief in Pakistan.

"During Ramadan you couldn’t really organize those fundraisers like you can now," said Layton, to nods of approval around the room.

The government did just that on Sunday, announcing a three-week extension until Oct. 2 of its pledge to match all private donations to registered charities providing aid in Pakistan.

Layton’s visit to the city came ahead of a caucus strategy session in Regina. He sees it as a time to shore up support in the province prior to a possible election.

"Every year we visit a different province in Canada for our strategy session, but this year we feel that it was important to come back to the birthplace of our movement," he said.

rmaclean@sp.canwest.com