On April 9, 2008, the Conservative government’s new immigration legislation survived a key vote in the Canadian House of Commons, despite an attempt by the New Democrats to block the controversial reforms. Members of Parliament voted against the NDP motion that strove to block the Conservative budget implementation bill, which contains the new legislation to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. New Democrat and Bloc Quebecois MPs supported the confidence motion, while Conservatives and Liberals opposed it. An election would have been triggered if the motion had passed. Though the Liberals have slammed the reforms, calling them regressive and designed to attack immigrants, they were not expected to vote against them. But they have not ruled out doing so in future, as the budget bill is expected to face several more confidence votes, each of which could bring down the government. Once they become law, the proposed legislative amendments would give the government discretion to pick and choose which applicants to fast track or block, which critics argue gives the government too much power as there is the potential for discrimination.
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