The Globe has developed fictional profiles of prospective immigrants. We asked two experts to assess the candidates. Who would you choose?
DEEPAK
Deepak is a 28-year-old man from India who plans to move to Brampton, Ont. He has a medical degree from a prestigious Indian school and has heard about Canada's shortage of physicians. Despite not knowing anyone in the Toronto area, he figures he'd easily get a job as a family doctor, confident his perfect English would help. Deepak's parents are trying to find a wife who would join him, but he doesn't want an arranged marriage. For him, coming to Canada would mean the chance to embrace new customs and start a new life. He admires Canadians' sense of justice and equality and yearns to become a respected professional in such a society.
Sharryn Aiken: This is a person who's clearly intelligent, likely to be adaptable. And although he doesn't have family, he'd be coming into a situation in Brampton, Ontario, which has a large Indo-Canadian community that he could certainly access and derive support from. So that would all be fine. But I would express more concerns for Deepak because it's not easy to be a foreign-trained doctor and actually become licensed to practice, particularly in Ontario. The question I would have for him is this somebody who's going to be willing do something else? It's funny because he's got the kind of background that our current points system loves. He speaks perfect English, has multiple degrees presumably, certainly is young enough to qualify and get maximum points for his age. But is this person actually going to get to work as doctor and if he doesn't what will that happen to his sense of justice and equality that he thinks Canada has? I think our points system is skewed in favour of too many Deepaks and not enough Leis.
Martin Collacott: In principle, he sounds like he could be a productive, useful addition to Canadian society. But doctors haven't had such an easy time getting the right credentials and qualifications in Canada. He should come here, but that doesn't mean it's going to be a smooth ride or that he's going to be able to practice as a doctor. I think it undermines the credibility of our selection process. It certainly will frustrate him personally. It's a waste of human skills and perhaps human skills that we need. I can understand him feeling rather resentful. The economic situation will impact on his feeling of identity from a social point of view. If he's unable to [integrate]economically, I guess he'll have some reservations about feeling really part of the Canadian fabric.
Jill Mahoney