Canadian leader backs visa office in Mumbai, official status for Punjabi
September 29th, 2008 - 1:32 pm ICT by IANS
- Toronto, Sep 29 (IANS) Canadian opposition leader Jack Layton has promised support for a new visa office in Mumbai and official status for the Punjabi language in Canada if he becomes prime minister after the Oct 14 polls.Jack, whose New Democratic Party (NDP) has fielded a record 14 Indian Canadian candidates to woo the million-strong community, said his party will also roll back a newly passed immigration bill that the community finds discriminatory.
India will be a priority nation for his government if it comes to power and he will visit New Delhi at the earliest, Layton told IANS in an interview.
Layton noted that given the increasing influence of India in the international business and political realms and the increasing number of immigration applications in India, “it would only make sense to expand our diplomatic and administrative presence in India.
“A visa office in Mumbai is one way that increased presence could be realized and my party government will be open to studying the merits of this proposal,” Layton added.
He said that if he becomes prime minister, “I would look forward to visiting India early in my term to discuss a variety of opportunities that exist to strengthen ties between our countries”.
Layton also made clear his displeasure over a new bill that nixes India’s chances of becoming the number one source of immigration to Canada.
“When the Conservative government tried to sneak through unfair changes to our immigration system, my party stood up and said no. We were very disappointed that other opposition Liberal Party did not stand with us and instead abstained and let Prime Minister Harper get his way. The only way to stop these changes is to send more NDP MPs to parliament,” he contended.
Noting that the NDP had a “better plan” to ensure fairness, boost Canada’s productivity and ease family reunification, Layton added: “My party launched the Creating Fair Opportunities plan to recognize foreign professionals. We fought for ending end punishing processing fees on refugees and immigrant women and children escaping domestic violence.
“We tabled legislation to allow any citizen or landed immigrant to sponsor one family member from outside the family classification for immigration,” he pointed out.
Layton replied in the affirmative when asked whether he would support demands that Punjabi, which the latest census says is the fastest growing language in Canada, be given official status.
“We are aware of the growing number of Punjabi-speaking Canadians and appreciate their rich legacy to Canadian history. We are committed to having their valuable contribution recognized by Canada.
“This includes ensuring services in Punjabi, recognizing it as being the fourth most spoken language in Canada. Already, we have seen some cities and municipalities putting up street signs and store signs in Punjabi.
There is also a rise in the number of public schools and universities offering courses in Punjabi. We welcome it and will encourage more such initiatives,” Layton said.
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October 5th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Jack Layton is a dyed in the wool communist, who has no hope in hell of being elected PM of Canada, so he can make outrageous promises. Making P an official language sounds nice, but the financial implications are ridiculous
October 5th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Layton is out to lunch. Every Indian I have met speaks English quite well, no need to pander or condescend to immigrants from India. This is third rate politicking. While we need to strive to recognize credentials, we don’t need anymore official languages. Like Dan says, Layton has no hope of being PM and so he can make ridiculous promises that he cannot hope to deliver on.
October 5th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
No more official languages. What a fool.
October 5th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Unbelievable!!! What a total jerk-off or maybe I should say Jack-off. He actually looks good in the turban, maybe Jack and Olivia should move to India.
Good riddance.
October 5th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
What an opportunist, backward and out-of-touch and dangerous politician this Jack Layton. Not fit to be a leader because his policies are so outrageous. What a farce offering official languge rights to a small pumjab group who is not asking for one.
Like Dion and his bunch, some politicians will lick the floor in order to get on the right side of the voters. Last century type NDP. He would destroy Canada as Ray did to Ontario. Teachers Remember the Ray days too wellto vote for another NDP.
October 5th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
if this country was run by Jack Layton, we be in a world of hurt! It is politicians like this that are slowly eroding our Canadian identity. I mean, come on, do we really need another official language. The more we cater to these minority groups, the more we lose our focus of keeping Canadian ideals and morales. If these people want to come to Canada, they should learn English and be accustomed to our culture, not the other way around. If I went to India and demanded all these things for an English speaking christian person, I would be run out of the country or worse. Old Jack Layton is playing partisan politics with a minority group just to get their votes! This man hardly stands up for Canada, especially in Afghanistan. He rather cut and run, typical socialist, when the going gets tough, they cave in. This guy makes me sick!
October 5th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
How about Gaelic Jack?
Will you make that an official language if you`re elected?
What a joke.
Our Country has already been sold out.
Immigrants need to decide BEFORE they come here if they wish to be Canadian and blend in and accept OUR Culture.
Fed up with hyphenated Canadians.
October 5th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
the Punjabis crapped all over this country and now Jack- our leader — is going to eat it. No shame, no dignity, no brains.
October 5th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
A CANADIAN EMBARRASSMENT
Maybe Layton will steal away enough votes from Liberals to make both parties irrelevant.
Disintegrating the fibre of this country comes from pandering to foreign interests.
How do these people ever get elected? Canada is already overburdened by people who do not support the system through taxes. The result is felt in a failing Medicare system where too many wait for over a year for an operation.
Layton and Dion represent the worst of what it means to be Canadian.
October 5th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
What’s that, a NDP or Jack Layton promising anything and everything to an audience? You’re kidding?
Ha Ha Ha Ha - can you believe that something like 18% of Canadians are going to actually vote for this joker?
I’d actually like to see the NDP get elected. In less than a year they’d be thrown right out of government, and reduced to 5th party in the House of Commons, probably without official party status. The federal NDP after the next election would make Howie Hambone and the provincial NDP look “successful”, even though they haven’t had even official party status since Ontario threw them out on their ass in 1995.
Layton’s a snake oil salesman, and anybody who’d vote NDP needs their head examined.
October 5th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
There are ~1 million Indo-Canadians in Canada. There are ~1.35 million Chinese-Canadians in Canada. Wouldn’t Mandarin be a better pick for Official language status than Punjabi? Or does the Chinese-Canadian community usually support another party?
Shameful political pandering on Layton’s part.
October 6th, 2008 at 12:10 am
What next?
Jack Layton is a characature of the naive socialist fool, making promises left and right that he can’t pay for, rules that can never be implemented, and economic changes that would drive away every last job remaining and bankrupt the country. His wife Olivia Chow is even worse.
The only thing more outrageous than those two is that 20% of Canadians think they are right. Unbelievable how gullible these suckers can be.
October 6th, 2008 at 12:30 am
As most others have said, this is awful. Any political party that makes itself beholden to such small minorities is completely out of touch. The good news: this will nothing but further guarantee a Conservative majority. And my God does this country need one.
October 6th, 2008 at 1:39 am
He is such an idiot-doesn’t he realize Hindi is spoken in Mumbai?
October 9th, 2008 at 5:46 am
The Punjab need to learn to speak english in Canada. as well as anyother immergrants to our country. They would not let us change if we went to their country.
October 13th, 2008 at 8:53 am
I contacted the NDP about this and they claimed the story is a lie. Does the author of this story stand behind it? If true such a policy would cost billions per yr.
Thank you for writing. It is not correct. We respect that there are
two official languages in Canada. At no point did Mr. Layton, or
anyone suggest otherwise. This inaccurate reporting has been
corrected.
We hope that this helps to clarifies the matter.
Jack Layton’s New Democrats
Putting you and your family first.
Jack Layton et le NPD
Mettre vos priorités et celles de votre famille au premier plan.
http://groups.google.ca/group/van.general/browse_frm/thread/6f57f8a0658268eb?hl=en#
October 16th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Good Night Canada
October 31st, 2008 at 10:22 am
Canada should not issue visas to South Indian Cine Industry personnel who are on Tamil Tiger payroll who visit Canada to promote Tamil Tigers among Tamil Diaspora in Canada. It is alleged that those Tamil Cinema Industry people who are now behind bars in South India for actively supporting banned Terrorist Tamil Tigers, have valid multiple entry Canadian entry visas.