The Chamber of Commerce should be congratulated for arranging the public forum to discuss current immigration concerns and issues.
The objective to have face-to-face dialogue with the principal government players including a Cabinet minister, the Work Permit Board chairman, the Staffing Board chairwoman, the chief Immigration Officer and the Permanent Residency Board chairman, the Council of Associations and the general public (invited via extensive advertising) fell short of my expectations.
It was unfortunate that the forum took place on a Friday afternoon the time of the week when most individuals have their minds and plans on matters of a less heavy mature. It certainly was an obvious miscalculation that with five lawyers on a platform of seven and especially given the subject matter, the format of the presentation as well as the known commitment of each panel member to their assigned responsibilities there would be little time to adequately cover the much awaited questions from the floor.
Panel members certainly wanted to get their points of view known and even expressed their willingness to listen to any new ideas. Only a small number (relative to the large gathering at the start of the meeting) stayed to the formal close at 7pm.
One wonders how exiting the forum could have been should the format incorporated a strong moderator with set time limits for presentations, questions and answers and allowed question following each presentation.
For readers who did not make it to the forum I will mention some of the information which stuck to my memory.
The rollover policy should be viewed in the context of the social framework instead of solely from the business perspective of bottom line dollars and cents.
The rollover policy does not currently affect the Civil Service as the UK Government has special input and intended changes will take more time. There are only 900 permit holders in the Government employ while there are 24,000 in private enterprise.
The Staffing Board chairwoman was the chief representative of the private enterprise when Employment Staffing Plans were first introduced and now is the main person on the other side. There can be no question of ignorance on her part on matters of concern from all perspectives.
A key employee can be even the sole baker in a small bakery.
The language of the Immigration Law is being modified to reduce ambiguity, increase clarity as well as to formally commit past intent and practice to writing.
On the question of key employees a closing comment from the floor – ‘everyone can be replaced.’
Lee Maragh
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