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News Advertiser
NOVEMBER 2, 2016
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Name: Deanne Nichol
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Letter to the Editor
WilliamHamm
The recent announcement by the Citizenship and
ImmigrationCanadaAssistantDeputyMinister ofOperations,
Robert Orr that the Immigration Case Processing Centre in
Vegreville will close by 2018 is an indication of an undispu-
table pork barrel decision.
Pork barrel is a metaphor for the appropriation of government
spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to
bring money to a representative’s district.
Many government decisions are made with analysis not being
shared with Canadian Taxpayers. In respect to the relocation
of the CPC to Edmonton there are many unanswered questions,
such as, an estimate of the final cost of such the relocation,
negative impact on staff and their families coupled with undis-
puted negative impact on the small rural community. Staff
cannot expect to rent or purchase a home in the Edmonton
area for the same price they will receive as they sell a house in
Vegreville. Staff will have a longer commute time as well as have
considerable expense for daily/monthly parking. It is clearly
evident that the government has little empathy for staff and
they have long touted employees as their most valuable asset.
An Immigration spokesperson gave some reasons for the reloca-
tion being that Edmonton is closer to post-secondary education
facilities, public transit, housing options and career growth
opportunities. Such factors remain unchanged since the original
move to Vegreville in 1994. The same rational can be applied to
those serving at military bases and the many small RCMP
detachments in rural Canada. Such thinking clearly identifies
the Ottawa mentality held by many senior bureaucrats.
One factor for making the decision to relocate this government
operation is the claim that there is difficulty in recruiting and
retaining sufficient French speaking employees. The ques-
tion that should be asked is what percentage of operation
requires the French language. One estimate is that less than
14% of the CPC operation is French language related. This
equates to no more than 30-35 staff needed to process
applications in French.
Seldom does government look back on their original decisions
and share the rational for making the decision in the first place.
Politicians and senior bureaucrats are frequently not held
accountable, such that there is not good value for spending
taxpayer’s money. An example is the latest boondoggle of the
Phoenix pay system in government – has any senior bureaucrat
been fired? The additional expense of over $20 million to fix
the problem is not good value for Canadian taxpayers. Question
- will the company who received the computer system contract
be sued? Similarly, the Senate scandal involved hundreds of
police and prosecutors at considerable cost only to be over-
turned by a single judge. One has only to look at the govern-
ment flip flop on closing some Veterans offices, only to be
reopened later as another decision by politicians and bureau-
crats which caused considerable costs to taxpayers.
As an aside, one has only to observe the move by government
to promote bilingualism in parliament and government at great
expense. Prospective Supreme Court judges and political party
leaders who aspire to such positions have little chance of success
if they are not bilingual. Canada is slowing creating an elitist
society not identified by many unsuspecting Canadians.
Howcan thegovernment deny the relocationof the Immigration
Case Processing Centre Vegreville to Edmonton is anything but
a pork barrel decision?
