14 February 2011

Powerless

Last May I wrote a short post about how we're sponsoring Mike's mother to come and live with us here. We knew it was going to be a long wait before she would come out: parents and grandparents are not a priority for the immigration service.

Today's news about immigration rates is not good for our family and many others like us. There are 140,000 people in the parents-and-grandparents queue, it seems, and now they are only going to allow 11,000 in, each year. At this rate, it will be more than 10 years before our family will be reunited.

It's so frustrating and upsetting. A lot of new immigrants have no vote (ourselves included), so it's an easy way for the government to save money without losing the good opinion of voters. Indeed, reading the comments on that CBC article would suggest that this move is popular with many Canadians, who see immigration as a problem and people like my mother-in-law as a potential burden on the state.

All we want to do is offer my children's grandmother a place in our new life and the comfort of having her only family members around her. Apparently, it's too much to ask.

3 comments:

Karen - An Artist's Garden said...

I am so sorry to read that your family wont be re-united any time soon
K

Amanda said...

Thanks Karen. Hoping it won't be as bad as that article makes out...

Helen said...

That policy wouldn't be popular with me. In fact, I think it's bone-headed. Mind you, I'm an immigrant, too... our parents came from the UK in the 50s. Good luck with your efforts.