Canada's Martin, Harper Promise to Scrap Immigration Landing Fee

Conservative leader Stephen Harper pledged to phase out the $975 landing fee for new Canadians on Wednesday—a day after Prime Minister Paul martin made a similar promise in a speech in Victoria.

"Immigrants and their families should be allowed to keep more of their own money in their pockets to start a new life in Canada," said Harper at a news conference in Mississauga, Ontario.

In an effort to woo immigrant voters, the conservatives say they will cut the fee in half immediately, and reduce the remainder over time to $100. Likewise, the Liberals plan to reduce the fee immediately to $600, then to $300 after a year, and finally eliminate it completely within the next two years.

Harper estimated the fee cut would cost the government about $500 million. When asked why he stopped short of completely eliminating the tax, Harper answered: "I'm just not going to make a promise I can't keep."

Harper said a Conservative government would also reduce the barriers facing immigrants to Canada and enable new Canadians to work in their chosen field more quickly by creating an agency that would pre-assess foreign credentials and have them recognized even before the immigrants arrive in the country.

Many immigrants leave professional positions in their country of origin to come to Canada, only to end up in low-paying, blue-collar jobs because their credentials are not recognized here.

The immigrant landing fee was introduce by the Liberal government in 1995 and was announced by Paul Martin, then finance Minister, as a way to fight a national deficit. The fee was highly criticized as a money-grab and is especially controversial among the immigrant community.

Martin's announcement was among the first policy announcements made in the Liberal campaign. During the first half of the election campaign, the Conservatives stole the show with an onslaught of policy announcement, and now appear to be slightly ahead of the Liberals in the polls.

A poll released on Wednesday put support for the Conservatives at 36 percent, ahead of 33 percent for the Liberals. Jack Layton's NDP were up one point with 15 percent.