CONSERVATIVE Critic for Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, Michelle Rempel, on Monday, reacting to the recently announced pathway to permanent residency for caregivers, lashed out at the Liberals for the long delay in taking action.

Rempel said: “Over the last three years, Conservatives have been meeting with Filipino caregivers and in August of 2018, we called for a pathway to residency. It is clear that the Liberals have no real plan and it is clear that they act only in response to Conservative policy initiatives. We are disappointed that it took the Liberals this long to consider this needed change.

“The Liberal response to caregivers over the last three years has been a frustrating patchwork. First, they arbitrarily stated that only those who had accrued two years of employment by November 29, 2019, would be eligible for permanent residence. Second, they accumulated a massive processing backlog for those who were eligible for permanent residency, reaching a massive 9,000 cases with wait times as high as 60 months. Meanwhile, there is a 0-day wait time to enter Canada illegally from safe places like Upstate New York. This is not fair.

“I have personally met with many caregivers in Canada and I know how painful this has been. While they were waiting as many as 60 months, they were separated from their families and were unable to sponsor their children to Canada. The Liberals cannot be trusted when it comes to getting this program right.

“Canada’s Conservatives have a plan to restore order, fairness, and compassion to Canada’s immigration system. We will continue to hold this government to account to actually improve the immigration streams, instead of making patchwork changes and putting people on no-hope waiting lists.”