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| Roy Cullen - Paul Martin - Gurbax Malhi |
Paul Martin Meets
With
The Punjabi Press
Paul Martin recently launched the first of his many open press conferences to take place across Canada. On April 13, 2003 Paul Martin and individuals from the Punjabi gathered in Etobicoke North for a conference to discuss some of the issues in the upcoming election. Accompanying Mr. Paul Martin were M.P for Bramlea, Gore, Malton Mr. Gurbax Malhi, and M.P for Etobicoke North Mr. Roy Cullen.
Mr. Martin began his speech by congratulating Sikhs on the Basakhi celebrations. The celebration of Basakhi represents an important symbol for all Canadians because of the values it brings to light every year, Liberal leadership candidate Paul Martin said recently.
Sikhs across the country celebrated Basakhi on April 13, which marks more than 300 years of the Sikh faith which was founded by Guru Gobind Singh who brought together the values of equality, compassion and generosity.
Mr. Martin went on to state that “While Basakhi is an incredibly important celebration for the Sikh community, it is an incredibly important celebration for the Canadian community as well” because the Sikh community has brought the values of equality and understanding to the Canadian people which is something that we should make sure our children understand.
“Our children should understand the richness of this nation as a result of the contributions of so many peoples from so far abroad,” he said. However, similar to any other task that is undertaken there is always room for improvement. Mr. Martin states that governments need to work together to improve Canada’s immigration system that currently prevents many qualified professionals from working in the country and contributing to the prosperity of the nation.
“In a country that has such a shortage of skilled professionals –– medical people, for example –– it makes absolutely no sense,” he said.
“We’ve got to give people the opportunity as quickly as possible of becoming qualified in Canada. The associations, the provincial government and the federal government ought to sit down and make sure that people who come over here with qualifications become qualified to practice their profession in Canada as quickly as possible,” he said. By stating this Mr. Martin pledged to improve Canada’s immigration system to make it fairer and more efficient for genuine applicants who wish to enter Canada and remain here in regards to the head tax that most immigrants often have to face upon arrival. When the head tax for immigrants was first created the government had a $42 billion deficit that needed to be covered. With hopes of reducing this amount the tax for immigrants was established. Since the government is currently in no such position in which the deficit is a major problem, such taxes can now be reduced.
Another question that was asked was aimed at the on going debate regarding the position of Canada with the United States war on Iraq. Press members posed the question of whether Canada’s current position with United States is justified and if in the near future it will lead to further problems in the amount of trade that is conducted, since 75% of our Canadian exports are sent to the United States. Mr.Martin replied that “we have always had good relationships with the United States, and are still good friends with our neighbors. However, we are just complying with the orders that were put forth by the United Nations, and it is our foremost duty to protect our citizens as well”.
Mr. Martin stated that his main priority when elected as the Prime Minister of Canada would be to focus on health care and education because these are the most important concerns in the eyes of our people.
Furthermore, during the conference the issue of seniors was also touched upon. When asked, if there was any possibility for the wait of ten years before obtaining pension for Asian seniors being decreased like other countries around the globe, Mr. Martin replied “The Canadian government has a treaty with these country which enables these seniors to receive pension right away, whereas the Asian governments have no such treaty making it ineligible for these seniors to receive pension as quickly”.
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| Punjabi Media |
